DME Owner Charged for $60 Million Health Care Fraud

Foot bath

Robert Leon Smith III was charged for his alleged role in a $60 million health care fraud, wire fraud, and kickback scheme involving the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME), genetic tests, and foot bath medications. According to court documents, Smith paid kickbacks and bribes to offshore call centers operated by his co-conspirators to obtain Medicare beneficiary information and falsified doctors’ orders. The offshore call centers allegedly used deceptive tactics to pressure Medicare beneficiaries to accept the braces, tests, and medications. He also allegedly paid kickbacks and bribes to purported telemedicine companies in exchange for doctors’ orders signed by telemedicine practitioners who did not examine or treat the Medicare beneficiary. Read a Department of Justice press release.

SMP Resource Center products often contain links to copyrighted material. The SMP Resource Center is providing these links as a convenience and for informational purposes in our efforts to report and educate on Medicare fraud; they do not constitute a guarantee, endorsement, or approval by SMP of any of the information available on the external site. SMP bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality, or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. If you have any questions or concerns about the links provided, please contact the SMP Center at nliebau@smpresource.org.