Florida Man Pleads Guilty to $42 Million Medicare Fraud Involving Medical Equipment and Genetic Testing
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on November 13 that Chad Monroe, 48, of Tarpon Springs, Florida, pleaded guilty that day to a $42 million fraud on Medicare, admitting to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, and to fraudulently obtaining a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Monroe and his co-conspirators opened three durable medical equipment companies, Maksix Medical Products Inc., Orthotech Atlanta, LLC, and 1st Choice Medical Supply LLC, and used them to submit more than $26 million in false claims to Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans, and TRICARE for equipment such as knee, wrist, ankle, and back braces and for cancer genetic testing that beneficiaries did not want or need. Monroe directed co-conspirators to lie on Medicare enrollment documents to hide his ownership of and role at the companies.
To generate doctors' orders for the equipment and testing, Monroe paid illegal kickbacks to purported telemedicine companies. Through his company Health and Life Networking LLC, he also sold doctors' orders for genetic testing to co-conspirator laboratories, which paid him more than $15 million in illegal kickbacks. He also directed a co-conspirator to submit a fraudulent PPP loan application for more than $30,000 on behalf of 1st Choice Medical Supply LLC, lying about the company's ownership.
The department said Monroe used the proceeds to fund a lavish lifestyle, including a 47-foot yacht valued at more than $600,000 called “The Rogue Shark,” a Cadillac Escalade, and other luxury vehicles. The government has seized the yacht and more than $1 million.
Monroe faces a maximum of 10 years in prison on the health care fraud conspiracy count and 30 years on the wire fraud count. A sentencing date has not been set, and a federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was announced by Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division and other officials. It was investigated by the HHS Office of Inspector General, the FBI's Tampa Field Office, the Department of War Office of Inspector General's Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and IRS Criminal Investigation, and is being prosecuted by the National Fraud Enforcement Division's Health Care Fraud Section. The department said its Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed more than $45 billion since 2007. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部罗伯特·肯尼迪大楼。Ajay Suresh 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。
