Attorney general suing Lakeville clinic for credit card fraud

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson
Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson announced at a news conference on Tuesday, Nov. 23, that a lawsuit was filed against a Lakeville chiropractic clinic and its owner alleging credit card fraud.
MPR Photo/Toni Randolph

Minnesota's Attorney General has sued a Lakeville chiropractic clinic and its owner for credit card fraud.

Attorney General Lori Swanson filed the lawsuit Tuesday, accusing Erik Okeson and his clinic, Okeson Optimal Chiropractic, of fraudulently using the identities of some patients to get health care credit cards for other patients.

"The clinic basically usurped the identities of patients who came into the clinic, often times just once for a free health screening giving their name and address and social security number, and then use those patients' private information to have them serve as co-applicants for other patients who didn't qualify for credit cards," Swanson said.

Swanson is also accusing the Okeson and his clinic of inflating patients' incomes on the credit applications. She said that during a 26-month period, the clinic charged about $632,000 to the health care credit cards.

Okeson did not immediately return a phone call seeking a comment.

This is the second lawsuit the attorney general has filed involving fraud and health care credit cards.