Blue Cross, Blue Shield SC subsidiary defrauded of $487,000

A New Jersey man pled guilty in federal court Wednesday of fraud in a scheme that bilked a Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina subsidiary of nearly half a million dollars. Federal prosecutors presented evidence that established 47 year old Garry Lewis Walker of Patterson, New Jersey as one of seven co-conspirators who defrauded Companion Property and Casualty Insurance of $487,000. Investigators say several employees of Blue Cross Blue Shield South Carolina changed federal ID numbers of legitimate Blue Cross Blue Shield health care providers to individuals who were not health care providers including Walker. Walker and the co-conspirators would receive workers’ compensation checks in the mail, cash the checks at banks using bogus accounts they set up, and then distribute the proceeds among the charged participants. Walker could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine.