Since March 24, the Justice Department has sentenced, accused or settled with four physicians and four durable medical equipment company owner for fraud cases.
The activity comes as CMS is currently enforcing a six-month nationwide moratorium on new Medicare enrollment for certain DME suppliers. Overall, there have been at least seven cases during this period.
CMS said it stopped more than $1.5 billion in suspected fraudulent durable medical equipment, prosthetics and orthotics suppliers billing last year. According to a CMS action notice, the moratorium applies to seven supplier specialty categories: medical supply companies; medical supply companies with orthotics personnel; with pedorthic personnel; with prosthetic personnel; with prosthetic and orthotic personnel; with a registered pharmacist; and with a respiratory therapist. During the moratorium, no new suppliers in those categories may enroll in Medicare, and new practice locations are barred when they qualify as initial enrollments.
Editor’s note: This article was updated May 26
Here are the eight cases since March 24:
- Robert Smith III, of Archer City, Texas, was sentenced to 150 months in prison for organizing and leading a $61.5 million healthcare fraud conspiracy involving thousands of Medicare beneficiaries. Mr. Smith owned and operated seven DME supply companies through which he submitted millions of dollars in false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary orthotic braces and foot baths.
- Maryland OB-GYN Valinda Nwadike, MD, agreed to pay $507,500 to resolve False Claims Act allegations related to a telemarketing scheme designed to defraud Medicare and TriCare. Between November 2014 and January 2018, Dr. Nwadike allegedly created and signed thousands of fraudulent prescriptions for compounded drugs and DME following cursory phone calls with patients, without physically examining them or reviewing their medical histories.
- Alabama physician Tommie Robinson, MD, was sentenced to 16 months in prison for a $2.7 million telemedicine fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary DME and genetic testing. Between December 2018 and March 2021, Dr. Robinson worked with telemedicine companies to sign pre-populated physicians’ orders for Medicare beneficiaries with whom he had no provider-patient relationship. As a result, suppliers and laboratories submitted more than $2.7 million in claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary services based on false documentation.
- Florida physician Simon Grinshteyn, MD, pleaded guilty to making false statements in connection with a multimillion-dollar healthcare fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary genetic testing and durable medical equipment. Dr. Grinshteyn worked with a purported telemedicine company between February and June 2020 to sign pre-populated medical documentation and physicians’ orders for Medicare beneficiaries with whom he had no provider-patient relationship. As a result, Medicare paid more than $3.1 million in claims based on false documentation.
- An Illinois physician who was previously named in a federal civil complaint has agreed to pay $62,500 to resolve False Claims Act allegations of signing orders for medically unnecessary orthotic braces for Medicare beneficiaries. Alexandria Williams, MD, admitted that between December 2018 and April 2019 she signed pre-populated DME orders for Medicare beneficiaries she never examined while working for Integrated Support Plus, a telemedicine company whose owner pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme in 2020.
- The founder of a Florida-based healthcare platform has been convicted by a federal jury for operating a scheme that generated false physicians’ orders to defraud Medicare and other federal healthcare programs out of more than $1 billion/ Brett Blackman, of Johnson County, Kan., owned and operated HealthSplash, which acquired an internet-based platform called DMERx that connected pharmacies, DME suppliers and marketers with telemedicine companies that signed fraudulent physicians’ orders in exchange for illegal kickbacks. Federal prosecutors said Mr. Blackman owned and operated HealthSplash, which acquired Power Mobility Doctor Rx, known as DMERx, in 2017. The internet-based platform allegedly generated fraudulent physicians’ orders for DME and prescriptions tied to telemedicine arrangements involving illegal kickbacks and bribes.
- Three Florida men have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a scheme to submit nearly $7 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for medically unnecessary orthotic braces and launder more than $2.2 million in fraud proceeds. Marco Scamarone, of Tamarac, was sentenced to 70 months in prison; Jose Mendez, of Coral Springs, was sentenced to 78 months; and Renee Vazquez, of Tamarac, was sentenced to 60 months. The three owned and operated two fraudulent DME companies — Braces and Orthotics in Virginia and Stone Oak Durable Medical Equipment in Florida — through which they submitted approximately $6.9 million in fraudulent Medicare claims between January 2022 and February 2023, using kickbacks paid to an offshore marketing company to obtain beneficiary referrals and fraudulent physicians’ orders. The proceeds were laundered through a series of shell companies.
- A New York man has been sentenced to 37 months in prison for laundering nearly $1.5 million in healthcare fraud proceeds on behalf of a transnational criminal organization that orchestrated what the Justice Department has called the largest healthcare fraud case it has ever prosecuted. Elnar Zarbailov, of Staten Island, served as a fixer and money launderer for a Russia-based organization that ran a multibillion-dollar Medicare and insurance fraud scheme known as Operation Gold Rush. Mr. Zarbailov deposited fraud proceeds from five DME companies linked to the scheme and transferred funds to overseas accounts. He was arrested at JFK International Airport in September 2024 as he attempted to flee to Azerbaijan and pleaded guilty in October 2025 to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was also ordered to pay $1,457,898 in forfeiture.
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