An indictment was unsealed in Tampa last week charging a Mississippi man for his alleged role in an over $70 million fraud scheme involving the payment of kickbacks and bribes to obtain doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME).
Joel Rufus French, 46, of Amory, made his initial appearance on April 11 in Oxford, Mississippi.
According to court documents, French allegedly managed multiple DME companies without disclosing his role to Medicare. He and his co-conspirators allegedly used the DME companies to bill Medicare for orthotic braces that were obtained using doctors’ orders that were procured through illegal kickbacks and bribes, medically unnecessary, not provided as billed, and ineligible for Medicare reimbursement. French also allegedly obtained Medicare beneficiary information and paid kickbacks and bribes for doctors’ orders for DME. French allegedly generated and sold doctors’ orders for orthotic braces to suppliers and brokers in exchange for millions in kickbacks and bribes. Finally, French is alleged to have participated in a scheme to launder certain proceeds of his schemes.
French is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks, conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, French faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud count, as well as on the conspiracy to commit money laundering count. French faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks count.
