BOSTON—The owner of Expansion Media (Expansion) and Hybrid Management Group (Hybrid) plead guilty on April 3 in connection with a $110 million telemedicine fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME), including orthotics such as back and knee braces.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina—Andrew Chmiel, 48, of Mt. Pleasant, was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for his role in a nearly $100 million scheme related to the payment of kickbacks and bribes in exchange for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME) orders.
SAN DIEGO—Anthony Duane Bell Sr. and his son, Anthony Duane Bell Jr., were sentenced in federal court to 65 months and 12 months and one day, respectively, for their roles in fraudulently receiving more than $21 million in Medicare payments and lying to cover it up.
SPOKANE, Washington—Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Thomas Andrew Webster, M.D., age 51, of Sylvania, Ohio, pled guilty to conspiring to accept kickbacks in connection with a fraudulent telemarketing and medical supply scheme throughout Washington and in other states. District Judge Mary K. Dimke accepted Webster’s guilty plea and set sentencing for June 26 in Spokane, Washington.
BOSTON—The owner of Expansion Media (Expansion) and Hybrid Management Group (Hybrid) has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty in connection with a $110 million telemedicine fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME), including orthotics such as back and knee braces.
WASHINGTON—A federal jury convicted a California man for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing $2.8 million for hospice services that patients did not need.
WASHINGTON—A man was sentenced today to nine years in prison for orchestrating a nearly $2.8 million health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy and engaging in money laundering, aggravated identity theft and witness tampering.
GREENVILLE, South Carolina—Jeffrey Brooks, 40, of Clarence Center, New York, was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In addition to Brooks’ criminal conviction, last year, Brooks paid $850,000 in a civil settlement to resolve allegations that he provided kickbacks and caused false claims to be submitted in violation of the federal False Claims Act.
KANSAS CITY, Missouri—A Columbia, Missouri physician has been indicted by a federal grand jury for making false statements relating to Medicare orders.
Jerry Joseph Bruggeman, 52, was charged in a 13-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
MIAMI—A Florida woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting more than $192 million in claims for genetic tests and durable medical equipment that patients did not need and telemedicine visits that never occurred.
NEW YORK—Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Naomi Gruchacz, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), announced the arrests of Erin Foley and Ted Albin on charges of health care fraud and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute.
LOUISIANA—A Louisiana man was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a multi-year scheme to bill Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME).
MIAMI—A federal grand jury in Miami returned an indictment charging a Texas man for his alleged role in a $60 million health care fraud, wire fraud and kickback scheme involving the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME), genetic tests and foot bath medications.
LOS ANGELES—A South Bay woman has been sentenced to 180 months in federal prison for billing Medicare more than $24 million by submitting fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME)—mostly power wheelchairs (PWC)—and PWC repairs, many of which were never performed, the Justice Department announced.
SPOKANE, Washington—Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Thomas Andrew Webster, M.D., age 50, of Sylvania, Ohio, has been charged by Filing of Information on one count of Conspiracy to Violate the Anti-Kickback Statue in connection with a fraudulent medical supply scheme that targeted elderly Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries throughout Washington and in other states.
BOSTON—A Virginia-based nurse practitioner pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston in connection with a $7.8 million telemedicine fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME), including orthotics such as back and knee braces.
Daphne Jenkins, 64, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for April 10, 2024. Jenkins was charged on Oct. 6, 2023.
ATLANTA—A Texas man and owner of two durable medical equipment (DME) companies has pleaded guilty to conspiracy for his role in a scheme to pay illegal kickbacks, resulting in more than $20 million submitted in claims to, and $11 million in payment from, Medicare.
ATLANTA—Brett Weiner and Valerie Desalvo have pled guilty to federal conspiracy charges for their role in buying and selling fake doctors’ orders used to obtain over $1.5 million in fraudulent payments from Medicare.
NEWARK, New Jersey—The owner of a marketing company located in India admitted his role in conspiracies to commit healthcare fraud and to pay and receive illegal kickbacks, Attorney for the United States Vikas Khanna announced.
PELHAM MANOR, New York—Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Naomi Gruchacz, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”), announced the unsealing of a five-count Indictment charging Manishkumar Patel in connection with a health care fraud and kickback scheme involving the sale of fraudulent prescriptions.
WASHINGTON—The Justice Department announced charges against a former executive at HealthSun Health Plans Inc. (HealthSun)—a Medicare Advantage organization that operates Medicare Advantage plans in South Florida—for her role in a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud scheme.
LEXINGTON, Kentucky—Oxygen Plus, Inc., a provider of durable medical equipment (DME) based in Floyd County, Kentucky, has agreed to pay $200,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by fraudulently billing Medicare and Medicaid for respiratory devices that patients did not need or use, in contravention of those programs’ requirements.
