United States Attorney Jason R. Dunn announced that Dr. William Choi and three companies he owned have paid the United States $2.35 million to resolve civil allegations that Dr. Choi received illegal kickbacks from distributors of spinal implant devices that he used in surgeries he performed. The United States alleges that Dr. Choi arranged to receive unlawful kickbacks, as follows. Dr. Choi is a neurosurgeon who, among other services, performs spinal surgeries. During the time period relevant to this matter, Dr. Choi performed surgeries at Sky Ridge Medical Center, Castle Rock Adventist and Porter Adventist hospitals. In 2011 and in 2015, Dr. Choi caused the creation of two distributorships of spinal equipment: Nexus Spine, LLC and 4D Spine, LLC. These two distributorships provided spinal implant equipment, such as rods, screws and cages, to hospitals for use in surgeries that Dr. Choi performed. Dr. Choi arranged for third parties to serve as the registered owners of both Nexus and 4D, while he secretly maintained control of both distributorships and the money those distributorships made. Through this arrangement, Dr. Choi solicited and received from Nexus and 4D improper payments and other benefits. The United States alleges that this conduct violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, as well as the federal False Claims Act because these kickbacks meant that false claims for payments were made to federal healthcare programs – Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE. These payments were made for more than five years, from November 1, 2012 through June 30, 2017.
