Leah B. Foley United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts | Department of Justice
A former sales director from New York has been sentenced to eight months in prison for his role in a kickback scheme involving medically unnecessary brain scans. James Rausch, 57, of Point Jefferson Station, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton in Boston on February 13, 2026.
Rausch previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute in June 2025. In addition to the prison term, he will serve one year of supervised release and must pay $17,573,642 in restitution. The court also ordered forfeiture of $408,437 and imposed a $20,000 fine.
According to court documents, between March 2015 and at least September 2020, Rausch conspired with others—including two managers at a mobile medical diagnostics company—to pay kickbacks to doctors who ordered transcranial doppler (TCD) scans. TCD scans are used to measure blood flow in parts of the brain.
The group offered cash or check payments to physicians based on the number of TCD ultrasounds they ordered. To conceal these payments, the conspirators created rental and administrative service agreements that falsely suggested compensation was for fair market use of office space or resources rather than for patient referrals. These agreements were described as shams designed to disguise per-test payments.
As a result of this scheme, about $70.6 million in fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicare; Medicare paid roughly $27.2 million for these claims.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley stated: "United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office; Anthony D’Esposito, Inspector General of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; Nicholas Bucciarelli, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office made the announcement."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie Queenin prosecuted the case as Chief of the Health Care Fraud Unit.
