Two Florida men have pleaded guilty for their roles in a Medicare fraud scheme in which they submitted more than $67 million in false claims for unnecessary genetic testing and durable medical equipment that were procured with kickbacks.
Daniel Carver of Boca Raton owned and managed call centers where he allegedly conducted deceptive telemarketing campaigns that targeted Medicare beneficiaries, according to a July 17 news release from the Justice Department. Louis Carver of Delray Beach also worked at these call centers and acted as a straw owner for a laboratory that submitted false genetic testing claims.
Both men allegedly paid kickbacks and bribes to telemedicine companies in exchange for completed physicians' orders, sold physicians' orders to laboratories and durable medical equipment companies in exchange for kickbacks, forged physicians' and patients' signatures and tricked medical providers into ordering medically unnecessary genetic testing, according to the release.
The scheme took place between January 2020 and July 2021. Daniel Carver, who faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and paying and receiving kickbacks. Louis Carver also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.