A Franklin County physician has been handed a dual sentence of prison time and home confinement for his role in a health care fraud scheme, federal authorities reported. Dr. Lee Peter Bee, 50, of Fenton, Missouri, was sentenced after he owned up to billing insurance claims that were never actually rendered, swindling nearly $200k from Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers.

Dr. Bee, initially from Sesser, Illinois, was ordered to serve five months behind bars followed by five months of home confinement. Additionally, the court has mandated that he pay $195,170 in restitution. The physician's actions were highlighted as a flagrant abuse of public trust, with U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe stating that his fraudulent activities "earned him time in federal prison and may serve as a warning for other medical professionals considering to similarly defraud," according to a press release on the Justice Department's website.

Bee, who practiced osteopathic medicine at his own clinic, billed for services from January 2015 through January 2020 that he did not provide. His scheme to illegally pocket sums was unraveled thanks to the efforts of several agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Illinois Attorney General’s office, and the FBI, among others.

Mario M. Pinto from the Department of Health and Human Services remarked on the severe breach of ethics, indicating that medical professionals who submit false claims "do so with a disregard for their patients and the oath they swore to uphold." Pinto also promised that law enforcement partners will continue to rigorously enforce accountability for those who exploit federal health care programs, as quoted in the Justice Department's press release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe J. Gross prosecuted the case, aiding in bringing Dr. Bee to justice for his overtly fraudulent actions.