Mich. Fugitive Convicted of Health Care Fraud, Returned to Jail After 17 Years

Michigan’s Attorney General Mike Cox recently announced that, after 17 years of being a fugitive from justice, Joel Edward Freedland, D.O., age 57, formerly of Franklin, Mich., voluntarily appeared before Judge Thomas E. Jackson in the 3rd Judicial Circuit Court for sentencing.

On April 28, 1982, Freedland was charged by the Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Division with billing for osteopathic manipulative treatments which were not provided and ordering unnecessary medical procedures on patients.

“Health care fraud drives up the cost of health care for all of Michigan’s citizens,” said Cox. “My office will remain diligent in tracking down those who defraud the system, no matter how old their crimes may be.”

According to the Attorney General’s news release, Freedland, who operated the former Griggs Clinic on Seven Mile in Detroit, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud the Medicaid program and 22 counts of Medicaid false claims following a jury trial in Detroit Recorder’s Court on February 5, 1987. In 1987, Judge Jackson sentenced Freedland to five to ten years in prison on the conspiracy count and two to four years on the 22 counts of Medicaid fraud, with both sentences to run concurrently. Freedland’s attorney filed a Motion for Appeal on April 16, 1987, and Freedland posted a $50,000 surety bond.

The conviction was affirmed by the Michigan Court of Appeals on August 7, 1989, and by the Michigan Supreme Court on April 24, 1990, when it denied Freedland’s application for leave to appeal. When Freedland failed to appear to serve his sentence on October 29, 1990, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest, and the $50,000 bond was forfeited.

Freedland’s osteopathic medical license was revoked February 4, 1989.

Source: Michigan Attorney General’s Office