Telemedicine Company Owner Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for $56M Medicare Fraud Scheme
On February 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Reinaldo Wilson, the owner of two telemedicine companies, had been sentenced to 7 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $27.9 million in restitution for his role in a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare for unnecessary durable medical equipment, with false claims totaling over $56 million. Wilson, 57, formerly of Richmond Hill, Georgia, owned and operated the two companies in Bayonne, in Hudson County, New Jersey.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2017 and 2019, Wilson and others paid illegal kickbacks to medical providers to sign orders for orthotic braces for Medicare beneficiaries who did not need them, then illegally sold the signed orders to purported marketing companies, which often re-sold the orders to brace companies that submitted the claims to Medicare. Providers working for Wilson's telemedicine companies signed orders for four or more orthotics apiece for over 3,000 beneficiaries, and more than 40 beneficiaries received orders for 10 or more orthotics. Wilson also attempted to conceal his crimes by creating a new telemedicine company through a member of his church, convincing her it was an investment opportunity, taking $20,000 from her, and having her open the company and bank accounts in her name, which he then took control of.
During the conspiracy, Wilson and others submitted over $56 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, of which Medicare paid over $27.9 million. In March 2021, Wilson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said that instead of connecting patients with legitimate care, Wilson used his telemedicine companies to exploit Medicare and line his own pockets. Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy of the FBI's Newark Field Office said Wilson amassed over $56 million in fraudulent Medicare claims over the span of only two years, through a cadre of crooked medical providers and co-conspirators. The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Darren C. Halverson and Nicholas K. Peone of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于美国华盛顿的联邦调查局总部胡佛大楼（资料照片）。ajay_suresh 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons；联邦固定图库标准图。 / Photo: The J. Edgar Hoover Building, headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in Washington, D.C. (file photo). Photo by ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; federal fixed-library image.
