The Diamond Syndicate

“Well, she did have a back problem. What made you think that the doctor’s bills weren’t legit?”

“Well, you see, Prosecutor Swartz, I have a substantial amount of education. I have some medical knowledge.”

Prosecutor Swartz had to hold in her laughter. “Go on, Mr. Lippe.” She thought he was a character, and enjoyed listening to him talk.

“I reviewed the medical bills and the diagnosis of the patient. It appeared to me that the patient had an acute back problem. And for that type of problem, her doctor’s bills were for far more visits than what would be normal for that condition.”

“Objection, Your Honor!” Kyle said. “Mr. Lippe is not a licensed physician.”

“Sustained. The jury will disregard that last statement,” Judge Fritz said to the jurors.

“How much were the doctor’s bills for Diamond Reed?”

“I went back for two years, and my findings showed that her medical bills totaled in the hundreds of thousands.”

“Hundreds of thousands?”

“Yes.”

“What else did you find out?”

“Well, I set up surveillance and found out that the doctor’s office had been processing quite a few false claims.”

“OK, Mr. Lippe, thank you,” Prosecutor Swartz said, deciding she had gotten enough out of this witness.

Kyle began his questioning before Judge Fritz gave him permission. “Mr. Lippe, you stated that the amount of doctor’s bills for the defendant exceeded the normal amount for her condition. Correct?”

“Uh, yeah, that would be correct.”

“Mr. Lippe, did you take into consideration or even notice that the defendant had many hospital treatments for her condition?”

“Well, yeah, I saw some of those bills too and put them in my report.”

“So, when reviewing the bills, did you notice the costs of therapy?” Kyle looked at his notes.

“You see, there is a certain—”

Kyle cut him off. “Answer the question, Mr. Lippe. Yes or no?”

“Well, yes.” Mr. Lippe fiddled with his tie.

“You state that the cost for a chiropractic visit was listed at eight thousand, when in fact, that is not the normal rate. Correct?”

“Well, yeah, it is, I saw the bills, and they were way overpriced.”

“Overpriced? That’s your opinion, Mr. Lippe. Your Honor, I hold here in my hand price lists from other chiropractic offices showing what they charge for the same type of treatment Diamond Reed received, and they were nowhere near the amount that Mr. Lippe put in his report. In fact the sessions were only a few hundred. I offer this as an exhibit.” Kyle got up from his seat, showed the exhibit to Prosecutor Swartz, and then to the judge.

After the judge approved the exhibit, Kyle handed the papers to Mr. Lippe. After looking closely at the price lists, he handed them back to Kyle.

“So, did these offices charge more than Dr. Ricci for the same services, Mr. Lippe?” Kyle asked.

“I suppose.”

“So am I correct in saying that your statement about Dr. Ricci overcharging for treatment in order to make money off the system is false?”

“For crying out loud, no! The bills were bogus!”

“Mr. Lippe, how would you know that?”