Beginning around May 2019, Jeffrey Brooks, 40, of Clarence Center, submitted false claims to Medicare from eight equipment companies he owned and operated in Fort Pierce, Fla., according to a Jan. 19 news release from the Justice Department.
Mr. Brooks and his co-conspirators allegedly purchased Medicare beneficiaries’ personal information from third-party call centers to generate physicians’ orders for medically unnecessary braces. He obtained these orders through illegal kickbacks and bribes to telemedicine companies.
He was also the beneficial owner of a call center in Greenville, S.C., that purchased the personal identifiable information of Medicare patients. According to the release, Mr. Brooks caused Medicare to be billed more than $29 million in fraudulent claims.
Mr. Brooks also paid $850,000 in a civil settlement to resolve allegations that he provided kickbacks and caused false claims last year.
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