Two Florida men have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a scheme that submitted approximately $35 million in fraudulent Medicare Advantage claims for medically unnecessary orthotic braces, the Justice Department said in a July 31 news release.
Michael Kochen, of Aventura, was sentenced to 204 months in prison and Sandro Herek, of Coral Springs, was sentenced to 92 months after both were convicted at trial.
Mr. Kochen owned dozens of DME companies and paid illegal kickbacks to Mr. Herek and others to recruit Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. Mr. Herek oversaw overseas call centers in Egypt and other foreign countries that aggressively cold-called elderly beneficiaries, using high-pressure tactics to induce them to accept braces regardless of medical necessity.
Physicians frequently issued boilerplate authorizations based solely on call recordings without individually evaluating patients. Medicare Advantage plans paid more than $19 million on the fraudulent claims.
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