DME Fraud

Durable Medical Equipment (DME) fraud remains a cornerstone of federal enforcement as seen in the recent takedown. An indictment in the Western District of New York charges a medical doctor with billing roughly $29.6 million for fictious DME and $5.6 million for audio-only telehealth visits, which were brief or never occurred. That doctor produced and maintained false and fictitious medical records and fraudulently certified orders for braces without regard to medical necessity. The doctor now faces federal criminal charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, and false statements relating to health care matters.

In “Operation Gold Rush,” prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York indicted 11 defendants, including two pharmacists, members of a transnational criminal organization based in Russia and Eastern Europe. These individuals allegedly orchestrated a massive Medicare fraud and money-laundering scheme that billed over $10.6 billion to federal health programs—making it the largest case by loss amount ever charged by the DOJ. The group used foreign straw owners to acquire dozens of U.S.-based DME suppliers, then submitted fraudulent claims for equipment such as urinary catheters and glucose monitors that never delivered, exploiting stolen identities and confidential patient data. To date, 19 defendants have been charged in the case, including multiple arrests abroad (Estonia) and at U.S. entry points.

COVID-19 Testing Kickbacks

COVID-19 testing kickback schemes typically involve health care providers or marketers billing Medicare for over-the-counter or lab-based COVID-19 tests that were unnecessary, never provided, or obtained through illicit referrals. These cases often rely on the same core tactics as DME fraud: using stolen or misused patient information, paying illegal kickbacks for referrals, and submitting inflated or false claims to federal programs. In both types of fraud, the perpetrators exploit gaps in oversight during high-demand periods—such as the pandemic or public health emergencies—to rapidly bill large amounts to Medicare, often with little or no patient interaction or verification.

These 2025 takedown includes criminal indictments and civil settlement agreements targeting this type of COVID-19 fraud. An indictment out of Illinois charged multiple individuals, including a physician, for their roles in a kickback scheme. According to the indictment, the defendants caused laboratories in Illinois and Texas to submit fraudulent claims to the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program, ultimately receiving over $293 million in payments. The physician involved allegedly misused patient information—including data from a former hospital employer—to falsely claim that uninsured individuals had submitted samples for COVID-19 testing. In reality, many of the patients had not submitted samples at all. Defendants submitted claims through Texas labs they owned, despite those labs being non-operational. The proceeds were then laundered through various financial accounts to disguise the funds’ origin. Charges include wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, HIPAA violations, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Authorities have seized a Rolls Royce Phantom and more than $104 million in assets linked to the fraud.

The charges being brought by the federal government in these cases carry significant criminal penalties and collateral consequences, especially for licensed medical professionals. At Conaway & Strickler, we are highly experienced in defending against these types of claims. Contact us to schedule a consultation and discuss your case.

The indictment also charges Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives of a renewable-energy company with securities that had traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra, former employees of a Canadian institutional investor, with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with a bribery scheme also perpetrated by Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, involving one of the world’s largest solar energy projects.

The indictment alleges that more than $250 Million in bribes were promised to secure solar enery contracts worth 2 billion dollars over two decades.

The SEC also unveiled a complaint charging Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, executives of Adani Green Energy Ltd., and Cyril Cabanes, an executive of Azure Power Global Ltd., for conduct arising out of the same massive bribery scheme discussed in the EDNY. complaint. The SEC also alleges that the bribery scheme was orchestrated to enable the two renewable energy companies to capitalize on a multi-billion-dollar solar energy project that the companies had been awarded by the Indian government. During the alleged scheme, Adani Green raised more than $175 million from U.S. investors and Azure Power’s stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

The indictment alleges, among other things:

1. There was a FBI raid in March 2023.   Gautam Adani failed to inform SEBI and the Indian stock exchange of this FBI raid and the DOJ investigation, which he was required to do. But he also thereafter lied when he denied that either had happened.
2. False statements in the annual reports. Guatam Adani emailed himself photographs of the search warrant of his nephew in March 2023.  He will be unable to say he was not aware of being investigation at that time.
3. False statements to US investors
4. When the search was executed on the nephew, Sagar Adani, electronic devices were seized.  This will be a treasure trove of data for the government to use in their prosecution.  The government cites “bribe notes” that Sagar kept on his phone to track specific details of bribes offered and promised to government officials.  It may very well be possible as this case proceeds that a superceding indictment is forthcoming and both Gautam and Sagar Adani will be charged with FCPA violations as well.
5. Co-Conspirator #1 and #2 may have cooperated with the government, and thus they may help corroborate what “numero uno” and other code names meant when texting amongst themselves about the conspiracy.

The defendants do not live in the United States, and it appears only one has dual citizenship in the US.  So, should any of these defendants enter US soil, they will be immediately detained and transferred to the EDNY for processing. Both Gautam and Sagar Adani have not been arrested yet and US prosecutors would need to ask the Indian government to extradite them under the terms of the countries’ extradition treaty.  India would need to consider whether the crime he was charged with in the US is also a crime in India, whether the charges are politically motivated or whether he could face inhumane treatment in the US.  As Meg Strickler stated in The Quint, there probably will be a superceding indictment that will include more charges.

Conaway & Strickler, PC handles many bribery cases.  Contact us if you need more information or are facing such charges.

With all of this going on, the US Attorney’s office increased its prosecutions of individuals of white collar crimes in the year 2021. White collar charges like fraud, theft, corruption, bribery, environmental crime, tax fraud, health care fraud, procurement fraud, money laundering, PPP loan fraud, etc will continue to get more attention from the Department of Justice.

What does this mean? It means that investigations of any sort need to be taken seriously and that you should contact a lawyer immediately if any wrongdoing is alleged.

Conaway & Strickler, PC has a long history of handling fraud cases of all varieties and is well equipped at fighting the DOJ in their overzealous prosecutions. Please feel free to contact us so that we can help you avoid future headaches.