A Florida laboratory owner has admitted to participating in a scheme that defrauded Medicare of over $52 million by submitting false claims for unnecessary genetic testing. Sean Alterman, 38, of Lake Worth, pleaded guilty on January 15 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to offer and pay kickbacks.
Court documents reveal that Alterman owned Live Beyond Medical MGMT, LLC and Dynix Diagnostics LLC. Through these laboratories, he acquired doctors’ orders for expensive genetic tests from patient recruiters who operated deceptive telemarketing campaigns targeting Medicare beneficiaries. The campaigns convinced beneficiaries to undergo tests they did not need, which justified the fraudulent billing.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida stated: “Healthcare fraud is not a paperwork crime, it is theft from patients and taxpayers. By buying prescriptions, running deceptive telemarketing campaigns, and billing tens of millions for tests no one needed, this defendant treated Medicare like an ATM. That conduct will be met with aggressive prosecution, forfeiture, and prison time.”
The recruiters used a method known as “doctor chasing,” sending misleading faxes to physicians requesting prescriptions under the pretense that they were acting on behalf of mutual patients. These requests were actually generated by call centers without any actual medical examination or treatment of the beneficiaries.
Alterman's laboratories submitted about $52 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare; approximately $36 million was paid out by the program. Alterman personally profited about $5.5 million through shell companies Shivv LLC and Shank LLC. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit his estate in Lake Worth and a 2022 Rolls Royce Ghost purchased with proceeds from the scheme.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 16. Alterman faces up to 15 years in prison; sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge after consideration of relevant guidelines.
The case was announced by Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Chris Caldwell of the FBI; and Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert from HHS-OIG.
The FBI and HHS-OIG are leading the investigation into this case.
Prosecution is being handled by Trial Attorneys Reginald Cuyler Jr., Aisha Schafer Hylton from the Justice Department’s Fraud Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadya Cheatham overseeing asset forfeiture.
The Justice Department’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program has charged more than 5,800 defendants since its inception in March 2007 across nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts (https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit). Collectively these defendants have billed federal health care programs and private insurers over $30 billion due to fraudulent activities related to health care services.
Additional information regarding related court documents can be found at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 25-cr-80105.
