DME Operator Admits Role in $11M Kickback Scheme

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.

The charges and other information presented in court alleged that between at least in or about June 2016 and February 2019, Simon Orobor owned and operated Devotion Medical Supply, Inc (Devotion) and Durable Medical Supply, Inc. (Durable), which provided DME such as knee, back, shoulder and wrist braces. Orobor, through another entity called Digital Interventions, LLC, obtained access to thousands of Medicare beneficiaries by paying, on a weekly basis, kickbacks to Individual 1 and Company 1 in exchange for signed doctors’ orders for braces. Orobor and Individual 1 disguised the nature and source of these kickbacks by designating the payments as marketing expenses, entering into sham contracts and generating or causing the generation of fraudulent invoices.

In total, Orobor, through Devotion and Durable, used the doctors’ orders obtained through kickbacks to submit claims to Medicare in the approximate amount of $20,555,772 and received Medicare reimbursement in the approximate amount of $11,447,961.

“Medicare is a vital program that exists to assist our most vulnerable citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “Our office will continue to prosecute those who exploit this institutional safety net for personal profit at the expense of patients and taxpayers.”

Simon Orobor, 60, of Houston, Texas pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 15, 2024 before U.S. District Judge Mark H. Cohen.

“When health care companies try to boost their profits through kickbacks arrangements, they compromise the medical system and increase health care costs for everyone,” said Sean Burke, assistant special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta.” The FBI is committed to preventing illegal financial relationships that undermine the integrity of our public healthcare programs.”

“Kickbacks impose hidden costs on the health care system and can compromise medical decision-making,” said Tamala Miles, special agent in charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General. “Working tirelessly with our law enforcement partners, HHS-OIG will continue to combat the waste of valuable taxpayer dollars and protect the integrity of federal health care programs.”

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is justice.gov/usao-ndga.