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A former health care fraud chief at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York has joined a Long Island-based firm to lead its practice representing clients in the industry.

Kenneth Abell, who spent the last 10 years at the Eastern District prosecutor's office, joined 95-attorney firm Abrams Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara, Wolf & Carone this month as a partner and head of its health care fraud and white-collar criminal defense group. To his knowledge, he said, he is the first former federal prosecutor from the Eastern District to join the growing firm.

For the last four years, Abell, 45, was chief of health care fraud for the Eastern District's civil division, supervising about 20 to 25 other federal prosecutors. The practice he led has grown, investigating more qui tam cases filed in the Eastern District in recent years, he said.

Abell was part of a team of prosecutors that reached large settlements over mortgage fraud claims with Bank of America in 2012 and 2014.

Abell said he stayed longer in the prosecutor's office than he had anticipated. “I felt in my stomach it was time to leave. I had accomplished a lot of things I had set out to do,” he said, adding, “I have three children. You start to think about college considerations and financial considerations, and that was part of it.”

Abell said he knew of Abrams Fensterman through its work defending some cases the office was investigating. “I found them to be professional, knowledgeable and tough, and when those cases fully resolved, they reached out through a contact we had in common” to see if he was interested in joining the firm, Abell said.

Abell said he also spoke with other firms, including large firms in Manhattan, but felt Abrams Fensterman was the better fit because of its presence in Brooklyn and Long Island, where he has spent the last 10 years, and for the opportunity it offered to handle a broader array of matters. While other firms were considering him for only health care practices, he will be working on matters for health care industry clients and others at Abrams Fensterman, he said.

Abrams Fensterman is well known in the region for its representation of nursing homes. It also represents physicians, management service organizations, ambulatory surgery centers, diagnostic treatment centers, home care companies and other providers.

With Abell's hire, the firm will be able to handle more matters, especially government investigations, instead of referring them out to other law firms, he said. The firm said the eight-attorney health care practice represents clients facing allegations of fraudulent billing, paying or receiving kickbacks, billing for unnecessary services and other regulatory violations.