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The patients were recruited by the hundreds: Medicaid cardholders picked up at homeless shelters and welfare agencies with the promise of free sneakers and shoes, then brought to corrupt clinics for unnecessary medical tests and devices. Those tests and devices brought in nearly $7 million in fraudulent Medicaid and Medicare billings, according to a 199-count indictment unsealed Tuesday by the Brooklyn district attorney’s office. (Davis O'Brien, 3/31)

Authorities investigating allegations of a Medicaid scam involving doctors and others in New York City recall coming across something curious in a lower floor of a clinic: stacks of shoe boxes containing cheap, off-brand sneakers, boots and sandals in a variety of sizes. Prosecutors say the footwear stockpile was further proof that the clinic was part of a ring that used shoe giveaways to lure poor people into a scheme that cheated Medicaid out of nearly $7 million over a two-year period. An investigation publicly revealed Tuesday resulted in health care fraud, money laundering and other charges against 23 people, including nine physicians. ... The people were offered free shoes if they could produce a valid Medicaid card and agreed to be taken by van to one of five clinics in Brooklyn and the Bronx, the papers said. (Hays, 3/31)

Federal prosecutors say an elderly living center has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle allegations of inflated Medicare claims for rehabilitation therapy. The U.S. attorney's office in Boston says Ross Manor in Bangor failed to prevent a subcontractor, RehabCare Group East, Inc., from engaging in a pattern and practice of providing high levels of therapy that weren't reasonable or necessary. (3/31)

An indictment of Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez on federal corruption charges is expected as early as Wednesday, according to sources familiar with the case. The FBI and the Justice Department have been investigating Menendez’s ties to Dr. Salomon Melgen, a close friend and financial backer of the New Jersey senator, for months. It’s not clear exactly what charges Menendez could face, although honest services fraud, receiving improper gifts, and misusing his office for personal gain are all possibilities, according to the sources. Both Menendez and Melgen have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. (Bresnahan and Raju, 3/31)