Tag: Orthotic brace
HealthSplash founder convicted in $1B brace scheme
May 18, 2026HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – A federal jury in the Southern District of Florida has convicted the founder and owner of HealthSplash for his role in operating a platform that generated false doctor orders and prescriptions to defraud Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs out of more than $1 billion, the Department of Justice has announced. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial:
Brett Blackman, 42, of Johnson County, Kansas, and his co-conspirators aggressively...
Former NFL player sentenced to prison, ordered to pay $111 million in restitution in brace scheme
May 12, 2026HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – A former NFL player who owned a marketing company and was the beneficial owner of eight durable medical equipment (DME) companies has been sentenced to 196 months in prison for his role in a yearslong scheme to bilk Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) out of nearly $200 million by allegedly selling patient information and sham doctor orders for orthotic braces that patients did not want or need. In addition to...
Nursing assistant sentenced to nine years for orthotic brace scheme
April 16, 2026HME News Staff
POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – Christian “Chris” Cruz, a nursing assistant from Pompano Beach, Fla., was sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in an $11.4 million health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy for providing Medicare beneficiaries with unneeded orthotic braces, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Cruz owned and operated a durable medical equipment (DME) supplier based in Florida and submitted millions of dollars in false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary...
Fraud round up: Brace fraud schemes in Oklahoma, Florida
January 13, 2026HME News Staff
Oklahoma DME owner indicted in $30M fraud scheme: An Oklahoma chiropractor and owner of Back Pain Home Supplies LLC, doing business as EZ Medical Supply, has been indicted for allegedly orchestrating a $30 million health care fraud scheme. Prosecutors say Mark Loftis paid kickbacks for patient referrals and submitted false claims to Medicare, TRICARE and CHAMPVA for unnecessary orthotic braces and other equipment, resulting in about $8 million in improper payments. Loftis also allegedly...
Doc sentenced for $6.3M brace scheme
June 30, 2025HME News Staff
DETROIT – A Michigan doctor has been sentenced to four years in prison for a $6.3 million Medicare fraud scheme in which elderly and disabled patients were sent thousands of orthotic braces that they did not need. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Sophie Toya, M.D., 56, of Bloomfield Hills, prescribed more than 7,900 orthotic braces to more than 2,600 Medicare patients during a six-month period. The patients were solicited through deceptive television commercials...
Florida woman pleads guilty to braces fraud
April 21, 2025HME News Staff
CONCORD, N.H. – A Florida woman pled guilty April 15 in federal court in Concord in connection with her role in a conspiracy to defraud Medicare of $3.3 million. Yolanda Dupont, 38, of New Port Richey, Fla., pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. According to court documents, Dupont and her co-conspirators owned and operated Allstar Medical Supply Corp., a purported durable medical equipment business in New Hampshire selling orthotic braces. As part of...