A Connecticut man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a $7.8 million health care fraud and kickback scheme.
Jesse Foote, 60, of Fairfield faced sentencing on Wednesday in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
He previously pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging him with conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback statute and conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
Between December 2017 and March 2021, Foote conspired with overseas telemarking call centers, durable medical equipment suppliers, telemedicine companies and doctors to submit fraudulent claims to health care benefit programs like Medicare and TRICARE, federal officials said. The fraud was described by authorities as a “a circular scheme of kickbacks and bribes.”
Authorities said Foote controlled a marketing company through which he purchased patient “leads” from overseas telemarking companies. The leads consisted of information about Medicare and other beneficiaries and pre-written doctors’ orders for DME.
Officials said the call centers targeted Medicare beneficiaries and others with health insurance to persuade them to accept DME, including orthotic braces, whether they needed them or not. Authorities allege Foote paid bribes and kickbacks to telemedicine companies, which in turn paid bribes and kickbacks to doctors to obtain doctors’ orders for DME based on the leads.
“The doctors often approved the DME orders without having any contact with the beneficiary and without making a bona fide assessment that the DME was medically necessary,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote. “Foote then sold the signed doctors’ orders to others with whom he had kickback arrangements. The doctors’ orders were ultimately submitted to DME suppliers, including DME suppliers controlled by Foote, which submitted fraudulent claims for reimbursement to health care benefit programs including Medicare, TRICARE, and private insurance companies.”
A total of more than $7.8 million worth of false and fraudulent claims were submitted to health care benefit programs through the scheme, officials said.
During his sentencing, Foote was ordered to serve three years of supervised release once he is released from prison and to pay about $7.8 million in restitution.