Arnold chiropractor clinic owner, employees convicted of disability fraud conspiracy

JEFFERSON COUNTY (KMOV) -- A federal jury convicted the owner of an Arnold chiropractor clinic and two employees of conspiracy to commit disability fraud.

Vivian Carbone-Hobbs, 60, is the owner of Power-Meds Inc. Carbone-Hobbs was convicted of conspiring to defraud the Social Security Administration by fraudulently obtaining disability payments for patients. Christina Barrera, 63, and Clarissa Pogue, 39, were also convicted in the conspiracy.

Prosecutors argued that the three would coach patients on how to conceal their physical abilities so they would appear to be unable to work. An undercover investigator who was not injured posed as someone who was “just tired of working.” An undercover video of a conversation between the investigator and someone at the clinic showed an employee telling the investigator they were “going to be permanently disabled.”

Carbone-Hobbs also billed insurance companies for services that were not provided, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said in a press release. She was convicted of 10 counts of healthcare fraud and two counts of stealing from the U.S., on top of the conspiracy conviction.

All three are scheduled to be sentenced on May 4. The conspiracy charge could carry a penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The healthcare fraud and theft charges carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison and the same fine.