Florida man sentenced for physician kickback scheme

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A Florida man was sentenced to 22 months in prison on May 29 for conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, the Justice Department said in a release. 

What happened?

  • Michael Comino, co-owner of Kestrel Medical, a supplier of durable medical equipment, was also ordered to pay over $2 million in restitution to Medicare. 
  • Beginning in August 2019, Mr. Comino exchanged signed physicians’ orders for kickback payments to two companies he owned. After becoming a 50% owner of Kestrel in February 2020, he continued to offer and pay kickbacks, disguising them as marketing invoices. 
  • As a result, Medicare paid over $2 million to Kestrel, and Comino personally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2019 and 2020.

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