Two South Florida Men Charged in $34.8 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

Two South Florida men face federal charges for allegedly running a $34.8 million Medicare fraud scheme by billing for medically unnecessary equipment, the Justice Department announced.

Kenneth Charles Kessler III, 42, of Miami-Dade County, and Michael Andrew Gomez, 42, of Broward County, allegedly operated seven durable medical equipment companies that submitted false claims for orthotic braces, continuous glucose monitors and other products.

Prosecutors say the men paid illegal kickbacks to marketing firms that used deceptive telemarketing to target thousands of Medicare beneficiaries. They then arranged for telemedicine providers to produce fraudulent doctors’ orders.

“The defendants are alleged to have perpetuated a scheme that involved the submission of $34.8 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary medical equipment,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “That money, which came from American taxpayers, was intended to benefit Americans in need of medical care.”

Kessler and Gomez are charged with conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and to offer and pay kickbacks, and two counts of paying kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program.

If convicted, each faces up to 65 years in prison.

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