Ex-Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine Faces Felony Charges for Alleged Role in Healthcare Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme

John Oxendine, the former Georgia insurance commissioner and gubernatorial candidate, is set to stand trial next month on felony charges of healthcare fraud and money laundering.

Background

Served as Georgia’s insurance commissioner from 1994 to 2010
Seeked Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2010, but was unsuccessful
Indicted on counts of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in May 2022

The Allegations

According to a report by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a federal judge rejected Oxendine’s motion to dismiss the charges, and a trial date has been scheduled for April 16, 2023.

Authorities claim that Oxendine conspired with Dr. Jeffrey Gallups, an Alpharetta, Ga., doctor, in a healthcare fraud and money laundering scheme between 2015 and 2017:

Gallups instructed doctors at his clinics to require unnecessary genetic and toxicology tests.
These tests were carried out by Next Health, a Texas-based lab company.
Gallups and Oxendine had a deal to split the proceeds from these tests.

The Players

John Oxendine: Former Georgia insurance commissioner and gubernatorial candidate.
Dr. Jeffrey Gallups: Doctor indicted for his role in the fraud.
Next Health: Texas-based lab company at the center of the fraud.

Consequences

Gallups was sentenced to three years in prison in June 2022 and ordered to pay over $700,000 in restitution and a fine of $25,000.
In a separate civil case, Gallups and his company agreed to pay around $3 million to settle a federal whistleblower suit accusing them of defrauding government healthcare programs.
Next Health was ordered to pay over $218 million after being sued for fraud by UnitedHealthcare in a Texas federal court.

Previous Financial Misdeeds

Oxendine has previously been under investigation for alleged financial mismanagement of his gubernatorial campaign. The Georgia Ethics Commission opened an investigation into these accusations in 2015 and settled its cases against him in 2022, for around $128,000.

Precedent

With this case, Oxendine becomes the second former Georgia insurance commissioner to face federal charges since the turn of the decade. In 2021, former insurance commissioner Jim Beck was convicted of embezzling over $2 million from his former employer, the Georgia Underwriting Association, through a network of shell companies. Beck is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence.

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