Seven Years, Health Care Fraud, Unemployment Insurance Fraud Schemes — Louisiana Chiropractor Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Health Care Fraud and Unemployment Insurance Fraud Schemes | United States Justice Department.
Benjamin Tekippe, 40, of New Orleans, was a chiropractor and owner of Metairie Chiropractic & Rehab in New Orleans. In addition to the prison prison term, he was ordered to pay$753,794.36 in restitution.Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Tekippe would also routinely bill BCBSLA for several other chiropractic services that were either not performed or not performed as billed, including thousands of false and fraudulent claims for chiropractic services he purportedly provided to patients while he was out of the office, including on vacation in Aruba and incarcerated in Arizona and Washington in
connection with state allegations. Tekippe solicited patients with insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana (BCBSLA) to visit his clinic by misleadingly offering “free” chiropractic massages for BCBSLA members. Simpson for the Eastern District of Louisiana; and Special Agent in Charge Jason Meadows of the Department of Health and Human Service Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Dallas Region, Baton Rouge Field Office made the announcement.The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case.Trial Attorneys Kelly Z. Through this alleged scheme, Tekippe received $12,952 in unemployment insurance benefits to which he was not
entitled.In April 2025, Tekippe was convicted by a federal jury of six counts of health care fraud and one count of wire fraud. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit. Evidence at trial showed that Tekippe spent the fraudulent proceeds on luxury goods and gambling, including over $90,000 at Harrah’s Casino in New Orleans, among other things.In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tekippe submitted weekly certifications falsely claiming that he was unemployed when he was billing for chiropractic services purportedly performed during his claimed unemployment. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of 9 strike forces operating in