Ex-OIG Investigator Guilty in $1 Million Fraud Scandal

PHOENIX–After confessing to more than $1 million in bank fraud
and forgery charges, a former special agent with the Department of
Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General now faces up
to 35 years in prison and more than $1.2 million in fines.

In a guilty plea entered Oct. 30 in the U.S. District Court for
the District of Arizona, former HHS special agent Scott Allen
Gompert admitted to using his expertise and connections as an
investigative agent specializing in Medicare fraud to seize more
than $1 million illegally.

According to court documents, through his knowledge of the
system, Gompert identified various bank accounts that held money
from fraudulent activity. He then prepared fraudulent seizure
warrants with forged signatures of U.S. magistrate judges and
presented the warrants to banks holding the funds from the
fraudulent accounts he had previously discovered. The banks were
then directed to issue cashier’s checks to a government seizure
account that Gompert had actually established for personal use.

Gompert used the money to pay off his mortgage and credit cards
and to purchase a Toyota Avalon and land in Peoria, Ariz., which he
intended to develop, the court papers said.

As part of his plea agreement, Gompert agreed to forfeit assets
equal to the criminally seized amount, including nearly $550,000 in
cash, the development property and the Avalon.

Gompert faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine on
the bank fraud charge. In addition, he faces five years in prison,
a $250,000 fine and a term of supervised release on the forgery
charges.

Gompert’s sentencing is set for Jan. 28 of next year.