Mole-removal scheme nets Lombard doctor 6 months in prison

A former Lombard doctor will spend six months in federal prison after pleading guilty to health care fraud stemming from a mole-removal scheme he concocted to collect more money from an insurance company and Medicare.

Prosecutors said John A. Greager II, 75, of Hinsdale, operated Cancer Therapy Associates in Lombard from 2015 to 2021 where he would routinely bill Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and Medicare for removing moles on multiple visits when in actuality they were all done in one visit.

Greager acknowledged operating the scheme because he knew Medicare and the private insurer paid more for removals that required multiple visits.

As part of his plea deal, Greager admitted that he stored moles from patients on site at his offices and delayed sending them to pathologists in order to maintain the ruse.

When Medicare conducted an audit of Greager's patient charts, the doctor instructed his staff to falsify records to hide his fraud, prosecutors said.

Greager was also fined $1 million as part of the sentencing, court records show.