A Texas man has been charged in federal court for impersonating representatives of Cerner and selling a hospital an MRI worth more than $1 million, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Albert Davis allegedly participated in a wire fraud conspiracy scheme in which he convinced employees of Dallas-based Prime Health Care and Dallas Medical Center that he and his co-conspirators were working with Cerner and sold them an MRI, according to the FBI.
Dallas Medical Center sent two wire payments totaling $1,061,550 to the conspirators' bank accounts, according to the FBI.
Mr. Davis and his co-conspirators allegedly impersonated Cerner employees, physicians and investors in emails and in-person visits. They also created a fake business entity, opened bank accounts, registered an Internet domain, created employee email accounts, leased "virtual office space" and purchased cell phones with the Kansas City area codes all under the guise of being associated with Cerner, according to the FBI. They also allegedly created fake Cerner product quotes invoices.
Raji Kumar, CEO of Dallas Medical Center, said in the FBI release that Davis and a co-conspirator approached her in February 2012 claiming to be partnering with Cerner to sell MRIs through their company iHeart. The affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint said Cerner had created a real quote to sell an MRI to Dallas Medical Center in partnership with Mr. Davis, but Cerner decided not to pursue the deal, according to the release. Mr. Davis did not communicate this information with Dallas Medical Center.
In October 2012, Mr. Davis invited Dallas Medical Center and Prime Health Care to a site visit to view the MRI, after which Prime Health Care decided to purchase the MRI for $1,330,130, according to the FBI.
The installation of the MRI was never completed, and hospital employees called the true Cerner company, who said they had never sold Dallas Medical Center an MRI, thus bringing to light the fraudulent activity.
Mr. Davis has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
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