A two-week nationwide law enforcement action swept up 78 suspects accused of participating in healthcare fraud and opioid abuse schemes totaling $2.5 billion, a June 29 Department of Justice news release said. The operation was announced by U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
“These enforcement actions, including against one of the largest health care fraud schemes ever prosecuted by the Justice Department, represent our intensified efforts to combat fraud and prosecute the individuals who profit from it,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in the press release. “The Justice Department will find and bring to justice criminals who seek to defraud Americans and steal from taxpayer-funded programs.”
The defendants are accused of defrauding elderly and disabled care programs and spending much of their loot on luxury items, the press release said. Authorities seized millions of dollars worth of cash, vehicles, and real estate. The suspects are accused of participating in telemedicine fraud, pharmaceutical fraud, clinical laboratory testing fraud, and the illegal distribution of opioids, the release said.
“This nationwide enforcement action demonstrates that the Criminal Division is committed to fighting health care fraud and opioid abuse by prosecuting those who allegedly exploit patients and health care benefit programs for personal gain,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in the press release. “Today’s announcement includes some of the largest and most complex cases that the Department has prosecuted and demonstrates the Department’s commitment to seeking justice for those at all levels of the healthcare industry who put profits above patient care, from professionals in doctors’ offices to executives in corporate boardrooms.”
Among the accused was Craig Lovelace, owner and president of Advanced Medical Equipment Inc. in Kenner, LA, who was charged with health care fraud. Lovelace allegedly made fraudulent claims for medical supplies that were either unnecessary, undelivered, or ineligible for Medicare coverage, and used the obtained funds to enrich himself and others between 2016 and 2022, the release said.
In another case, one of the largest health care fraud schemes ever prosecuted, 11 defendants were indicted in the Justice Department's Southern District of Florida for allegedly submitting over $2 billion in false telemedicine claims, selling templated doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary orthotic braces and pain creams in exchange for kickbacks and bribes, the release said.
In another telemedicine fraud case, a physician was charged in the Eastern District of Washington with signing more than 2,800 fake orders for orthotic braces, including braces for patients whose limbs had been amputated, the release said. In yet another case, the alleged perpetrator of a pharmaceutical fraud scheme "used his share of the proceeds to purchase luxury goods, including a $280,000 Lamborghini, a $220,000 Mercedes, and three boats," the release said.
