Fraud roundup: Three individuals sentenced in brace-related schemes

BOSTON – A Geneva, Ill., man has been sentenced in a Boston federal court to two years in prison for a fraud scheme to defraud Medicare of more than $2 million by submitting claims for durable medical equipment (DME) that was medically unnecessary, not wanted by the Medicare beneficiaries and tainted by kickbacks. In August 2025, Kartik Bhatia, 36, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of making false statements. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Bhatia worked with Raju Sharma, and other co-conspirators to own and operate a DME company that paid telemarketing companies for DME orders for orthotics such as ankle, wrist, knee and back braces. After CMS issued a payment suspension to Bhatia’s DME company, Bhatia simply opened a new DME company that engaged in the same conduct.

FULSHEAR, Texas – A Texas man has been sentenced to 90 months in prison for his role in a $59.9 million conspiracy to pay kickbacks and submit claims for medically unnecessary DME to Medicare. According to court documents, Patrick Cassells, 65, of Fulshear, owned and operated three DME companies and concealed his role in one of those companies by falsely identifying another individual as the sole owner and manager in a Medicare enrollment application. Cassells paid illegal kickbacks to co-conspirators who sent him signed doctor orders and other paperwork necessary to bill Medicare for orthotic braces such as knee, back, shoulder and wrist braces. The kickbacks were disguised by referring to the doctor orders as “leads” and the services provided as “marketing.” Based on these orders, which were issued without doctors examining or treating the patients, Cassells submitted claims to Medicare that falsely represented that the braces were medically necessary. In total, through the three companies, Cassells caused more than $59.9 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, for which Medicare paid over $27 million. Cassells used proceeds of the fraud to purchase personal vehicles and vehicles that he intended to export to Nigeria. In June 2024, Cassells pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Texas to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In addition to the prison sentence, Cassells was ordered to pay $25,402,614.97 in restitution and forfeiture, and to forfeit four vehicles and three properties in the Houston area.

NEWARK, N.J. – A Georgia chiropractor was sentenced to 43 months in prison for her role in a $14.9 million health care fraud and illegal kickback conspiracy. Teflyon Cameron, 59, of Powder Springs, Ga., previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz on March 2, 2026, in Newark federal court to a charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback statute. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

• For several years, Cameron conspired to defraud health insurers, including Medicare, by causing the submission of claims for medically unnecessary Durable Medical Equipment (DME) and Cancer Genetic Tests (CGx).  In total, Cameron and her conspirators caused a loss to Medicare of more than $14.9 million, and Cameron pocketed more than $1.3 million in fraud proceeds.
• Cameron and her conspirators owned, operated and had a financial interest in DME companies through which they obtained doctor orders for DME, namely orthotic braces, for Medicare beneficiaries without regard to medical necessity. Cameron and her conspirators obtained DME orders using marketing call centers and telemedicine companies, caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, and paid illegal kickbacks.
• Cameron and her conspirators also owned, operated, and had a financial interest in a CGx company through which she agreed to provide a clinical laboratory with leads of beneficiaries who were qualified to receive federal health care benefits for cancer genetic tests. Cameron submitted invoices to the clinical laboratory seeking payment on a per-lead basis, but entered into a sham agreement to disguise kickback and bribe payments.