Florida Man Agrees to Plead Guilty in $110 Million Telemedicine Medicare Fraud Scheme
By: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law
On February 16, 2024, a Parkland, Florida, man agreed to plead guilty to organizing a Medicare fraud scheme worth $110 million. The federal prosecution is taking place in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The fraud was allegedly perpetrated through two Florida companies the man owned, Expansion Media, LLC, and Hybrid Management Group, LLC. According to federal prosecutors in Boston, the scheme involved utilizing telemedicine and telemarketing enterprises to create fabricated orders for medical equipment, particularly knee braces. The scheme allegedly lasted from March 2016 to January 2023.
Specifics on this Medicare Fraud Scheme.
The Florida businessman and owner of Expansion Media, LLC, and Hybrid Management Group, LLC, allegedly sold medically unnecessary Durable Medical Equipment (D.M.E.) to medical staffing companies. According to the government, he used telemedicine and telemarketing companies to create false leads. The telemarketers would pay the Florida man’s companies to generate orders for the medical groups that signed off on them, even though they had no contact with any of the Medicare beneficiaries. The medical devices ordered resulted in $110 million in fraudulent claims, of which Medicare paid $52.5 million.
Prosecutors say the Florida man took many steps to conceal the scheme, including changing his business names, creating fictitious e-mails tied to those companies, and using third-party pass-through payment options.
The Florida man was ordered by the court to pay back $15.7 million and a laundry list of expensive jewelry purchases, such as multiple Patek Philippe watches and Tiffany & Co. jewelry. He agreed to plead guilty, and his deal includes a ten-year prison sentence with supervised releases for three years and fines up to $250,000.
No mention was made about what happened to the Patek Phillippe watches or the Tiffany jewelry, but I have asked the FBI to keep me advised. I have an anniversary coming up.
To view the press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts, click here.
Florida Man: Joyfully Spreading Florida’s Crime All Over the Place
This blog relates one of my biggest pet peeves. That scurrilous, underhanded Florida Man. Now he has spread his disease of fraud and theft all the way up to the beautiful city of Boston. Why don’t they finally lock him up once and for all?
Is Florida really going to make Florida Man the official state bird, replacing the beautiful Northern Mockingbird? Maybe that’s what he was doing up north in Massachusetts, mocking them.
This case also points out Florida’s reputation as a state which shelters and promotes the use of shell corporations and limited liability companies used to defraud the public and its protection of conmen and fraudsters.
Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late; Consult with a Health Law Attorney Experienced in Medicare and Health care Fraud Issues Now.
The attorneys of The Health Law Firm represent physicians, pharmacists, durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers, and other health care providers in Medicare audits, investigations and subpoenas, Medicaid audits and subpoenas, Medicare and Medicaid investigations, Department of Health (DOH) subpoenas and investigations, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) subpoenas and investigations, and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) subpoenas, audits and investigations, in Florida, Colorado, Louisiana, the District of Columbia, Virginia, and across the U.S. They also represent healthcare providers in actions to terminate billing privileges, termination from the Medicare or Medicaid programs, and state and federal administrative hearings and litigation.
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Sources:
DOM. (February 16, 2024). Owner of telemedicine companies charged with $110 million medicare fraud scheme. United States Attorney’s Office. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/owner-telemedicine-companies-charged-110-million-medicare-fraud-scheme#:~:text=BOSTON%20%E2%80%93%20The%20owner%20of%20Expansion,as%20back%20and%20knee%20braces.
Dowling, B. (February 16, 2024). Telemedicine exec admits $110 Medicare fraud scheme. Law360. Retrieved from https://www.law360.com/articles/1803737/telemedicine-exec-admits-110m-medicare-fraud-scheme
About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice. Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida, area. www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Avenue, Suite 1000, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620 Toll-Free: (888) 331-6620.
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