A Florida man who owns multiple telemedicine companies has been charged for his role in a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud, illegal kickback scheme, and tax evasion scheme.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Creaghan Harry, 53, a resident of Highland Beach Florida.

In the superseding indictment, the DOJ charged Harry for allegedly orchestrating a health care fraud and illegal kickback scheme involving the submission of more than $784 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.

The DOJ also charged the defendant for disguising and hiding the proceeds from the illegal scheme to avoid paying income taxes.

Allegations against telemedicine company owner Creaghan Harry

The Justice Department alleged that Harry conspired with others in soliciting illegal kickbacks and bribes from durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers and marketers in exchange for orders for DME braces and medications.

The defendant's telemedicine companies allegedly paid doctors to write medically unnecessary orders for DME braces and medications. The telemedicine companies then gave the doctors' orders to DME suppliers that submitted fraudulent billing totaling more than $784 million to Medicare, which ended up paying over $274 million.

In addition, Harry tried to conceal and disguise the illegal kickback scheme and the Medicare fraud by instructing DME suppliers and marketers to make their payments to shell companies instead of directly paying his telemedicine companies. He then transferred the monies from shell companies to his telemedicine companies to pay physicians for writing unnecessary orders for braces and medications," according to the DOJ.

Furthermore, the Justice Department alleged that Harry lied to prospective investors, lawyers, and others that his telemedicine companies did not receive any kickback. He falsely claimed that his companies had been receiving $10 million in revenue annually from fees paid by patients receiving telemedicine services. In reality, his companies were generating revenue from illegal bribes and kickbacks.

Moreover, the DOJ alleged that Harry committed income tax evasion between 2018 and 2018 by receiving proceeds from his illegal scheme through shell companies. He allegedly used those proceeds to live a luxurious lifestyle.

The defendant and his co-conspirators were previously indicted

Harry has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, and four counts of income tax evasion.

In a previous indictment, Harry and his co-conspirators, Lester Stockett and Elliot Loewenstern were previously charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive kickbacks. They were also charged with four counts of receipt of kickbacks, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Harry is facing a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment for the conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. He is facing five years imprisonment on each count of tax evasion, five years imprisonment for the conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive kickbacks.

The defendant is also facing 10 years imprisonment for each count of receipt of kickbacks, and 20 years imprisonment on the conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Stockett and Loewerstein previously pleaded guilty to the charges against them.

------------------------------------

Have a story you want USA Herald to cover? Submit a tip here and if we think it’s newsworthy, we’ll follow up on it.

Want to contribute a story? We also accept article submissions — check out our writer’s guidelines here.