A federal jury convicted Sophie Dufort, 57, of Gainesville, Fla., for her role in an $8.6 million Medicare fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary orthotic braces, the Justice Department said Oct. 27.
Ms. Dufort owned one durable medical equipment company and managed several others. Prosecutors said she conspired with Paula Pirone, 70, of Ocala, Fla., and others to bill Medicare using fake physician prescriptions.
The equipment companies bought the prescriptions from purported marketing firms that used high-pressure telemarketing calls to collect beneficiaries’ information. Those firms then paid practitioners to sign brace orders without contacting or examining patients, or used stolen physician credentials to forge the orders, the Justice Department said.
Ms. Dufort and her co-conspirators shipped braces to elderly and disabled beneficiaries who neither wanted nor needed them. A medical expert testified at trial that the brace combinations could be “very dangerous” for the elderly Medicare population. When beneficiaries complained and tried to return the braces, they were told to throw them away or pass them along so the companies would not have to repay Medicare, according to the Justice Department.
The jury convicted Ms. Dufort of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, two counts of healthcare fraud, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and pay illegal kickbacks, and paying illegal kickbacks. She faces up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for January.
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