CPAP provider charged with federal mail fraud
By HME News Staff
Updated Sat September 30, 2006
SANTA ANA, Calif. - A woman faces federal mail fraud charges for allegedly selling inferior DME to sleep patients. Patricia Ann Wyatt-Chafe, owner of La Palma, Calif.-based Phoenix CPAP Services, was charged Aug. 23 with five counts of mail fraud. Wyatt-Chafe allegedly sold previously used items such as CPAPs, masks, hoses and filters, and billed Medicare and some private payers for new items. She is also accused of selling inferior and inexpensive disposable equipment that she claimed was reusable. If convicted, Wyatt-Chafe faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for each fraud count.
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