Feds Allege California Marines Involved In $67M Health Fraud

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Federal authorities say Southern California Marines were recruited for a scheme that bilked the government's military health insurance provider out of $67 million.

The San Diego Union-Tribune (http://bit.ly/2v1kixi) says a complaint was filed Thursday in San Diego as part of a civil asset forfeiture case. Authorities are trying to seize the property of a Tennessee couple.

Investigators say Marines were recruited at up to $300 a month for a so-called medical study that involved phone consultations with a doctor's office in Cleveland, Tennessee, owned by Jimmy and Ashley Collins.

The Marines were prescribed costly compound drugs.

A pharmacy in Bountiful, Utah, filled thousands of prescriptions and billed them to the insurer, TRICARE.

Lawyers for the couple deny they committed fraud.