Two physicians at MU plead guilty to health care fraud

Two physicians at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, Kenneth Loem Rall, 82, and Michael Edward Richards, 65, both of Columbia, have pleaded guilty in federal court to a health care fraud scheme that totaled more than $190,000, according to a release from the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Rall and Richards admitted they falsely certified that they had viewed hundreds of files and records, when in fact they did not view the images. In each instance, the federal health benefit plan caused money to be paid, relying on their certification that they had done the work required by the pertinent regulations.

Rall was chairman of the department of radiology at the School of Medicine until his resignation from that position on Dec. 20, 2011. Richards was head of mammography. Rall and Richards were both attending physicians in the university hospital, and teaching physicians and members of the faculty of the School of Medicine.

Rall and Richards could each face up to 10 years in federal prison without parole.