More business owners charged in South Mississippi health-care fraud that nabbed Dr. Diaz

Four new players, including Christmas tree farm owners Randy and Hope Thomley, have been charged in a 28-count indictment in the same health-care fraud case that snared Coast physician Albert Diaz.

The indictment names the Thomleys, who are from Hattiesburg, along with Glenn Doyle Beach Jr., a Sumrall businessman, and Gregory Grafton Parker, a nurse practitioner from Laurel.

The indictment says the four defendants conspired to defraud TRICARE and other insurance companies of more than $200 million between 2012 and 2015.

The Thomleys and Beach were members of Advantage Pharmacy, and Beach also organized Advantage Medical Infusion. The conspirators were submitting fraudulent prescriptions for compounded medications through the Advantage companies to TRICARE and other insurance companies, the indictment says.

The prescriptions were based on how much money they would bring in, not medical need, the government contends.

Pharmacy co-owner Jason May and pharmaceutical salesman Jay Scharr already pleaded guilty in the conspiracy. A jury convicted Diaz, who has been sentenced to prison, on 16 charges.

The Thomleys' names have repeatedly surfaced in the case.

Several patients Diaz wrote prescriptions for but never saw either worked for Randy Thomley or were related to him, according to testimony during Diaz's trial. Diaz was found guilty of prescribing medications in some cases without actually seeing patients.

The government has never shown that Diaz profited from his illegal activities, but the latest indictment says the Thomleys and Beach paid kickbacks to secure fraudulent prescriptions and, along with Parker, received kickbacks for their roles in the scheme.

For example, a dietary supplement was one of the compounded medications being prescribed. According to the indictment, Parker sent Hope Thomley a text that said: "If you want to thank me, get me rolling on dietary supplements. I need to make some cash, and I think I can burn through a lot of that stuff!"

In the latest indictment, Randy Thomley faces 24 felony charges of conspiracy, health-care fraud, distribution of a controlled substance (ketamine), racketeering, payment to a non-licensed physician and money laundering. Hope Thomley faces 23 of the same charges.

Glenn Doyle is charged with 16 felonies involving conspiracy, health-care fraud, payment to a non-licensed physician, money laundering and racketeering.

Gregory Parker is charged with eight felonies involving conspiracy, health-care fraud and making a false statement to a federal agent.

This story was originally published June 25, 2018 at 1:06 PM with the headline "More business owners charged in South Mississippi health-care fraud that nabbed Dr. Diaz."