In an update to a January 22, 2026, story, Michael Kochen was sentenced to 17 years in prison and ordered to repay about $19 million. Sandro Herek was sentenced to more than seven years. Read a story from the Miami Herald.
According to court documents and trial evidence, Michael Kochen and Sandro Herek targeted Medicare Advantage beneficiaries through deceptive telemarketing practices, pressuring elderly individuals to accept medical equipment they did not need – and in some cases, did not want. Physicians frequently issued standardized or boilerplate medical authorizations for braces based solely on call recordings rather than individualized medical evaluations. In many instances, doctors did not speak with beneficiaries at all. Read a story from the Miami Herald and a Department of Justice press release.