Attorney pleads guilty in Medicaid fraud case

TAMPA — WellCare Health Plans Inc. former general counsel Thaddeus Bereday pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to the Florida Medicaid program according to a statement from acting U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow.

Tampa-based WellCare provides government-sponsored managed care services.

Bereday faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date hasn't been set.

According to the statement, in 2011, Bereday, along with former WellCare CEO Todd Farha, former WellCare CFO Paul Behrens, former WellCare Vice President William Kale and former WellCare Vice President Peter Clay, were indicted on various federal criminal violations relating to a scheme to defraud the Florida Medicaid program. The statement says they made false and fraudulent statements about expenditure information for behavioral health care services in the company's annual reports to reduce WellCare's payback obligations.

In 2013, Farha was found guilty of two counts of health care fraud. The other former WellCare executives were found guilty of various charges as well. Bereday didn't participate in the 2013 trial due to health-related issues, according to the press release. His case was scheduled to be tried in September.