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DOJ charges two in $25M scheme

DOJ charges two in $25M scheme

NEWARK, N.J. – Two Florida men have been indicted for their roles in DME and compound medication schemes involving kickbacks and fraud, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey have announced. Thomas Farese of Delray Beach, Fla., and Domenic Gatto of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., are charged in an 11-count indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to transact in criminal proceeds, transacting in criminal proceeds and conspiracy to violate the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. Farese and Gatto, according to documents filed in the case, played key roles in a scheme to defraud health care benefit programs by allegedly offering, paying, soliciting and receiving kickbacks and bribes in exchange for doctors’ orders for DME without regard to medical necessity, namely orthotic braces. Farese, Gatt and their conspirators had financial interests in multiple DME companies that paid kickbacks to suppliers of DME orders, in exchange for DME orders. The suppliers, in turn, used telemedicine companies to obtain DME orders without regard to medical necessity. The DME companies owned by Farese and Gatto subsequently fraudulently billed Medicare, TRICARE, CHAMPVA, and other health care benefit programs for the DME orders. The defendants concealed their ownership of the DME companies by using straw owners who were falsely reported to Medicare as the owners of the companies. Gatto also brokered a kickback relationship whereby he received an illegal kickback each time specific DME suppliers provided DME orders to the DME companies controlled by him and his conspirators. Gatto and his conspirators then laundered the proceeds of the scheme through several layers of bank accounts under their control. The defendants caused losses to Medicare, TRICARE and CHAMPVA of approximately $25 million. 

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