Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Monty Stokes, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Veteran Affairs, Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG), announce the charges filed against Timothy Rouch, 47, Port St. Lucie, the former Chief of Prosthetics at VA Medical Center West Palm Beach, and Frankie Lane, 52, formerly of Boca Raton, owner of AAA Medical Discount, two defendants for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349.
According to the information, the defendants conspired to fraudulently bill the VA in West Palm Beach for durable medical equipment that was never provided to veterans. The VA official solicited and received kickbacks from the vendor. AAA Medical Discount sold over $2.2 million in durable medical equipment to the VA from 2006-2010.
If convicted, each faces a statutory maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison, to be followed by up to a three-year term of supervised release, and imposition of a $250,000 fine in addition to payment of restitution.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the VA-OIG. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Evans.
An information is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
