Steven Richardson, the former owner of Expansion Media and Hybrid Management Group, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for a $110 million telehealth Medicare fraud scheme. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton handed down the sentence Aug. 20 in Boston, along with two years of supervised release.
Mr. Richardson, 42, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., pleaded guilty in April 2024 to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. He was charged in February 2024.
Prosecutors said that between March 2016 and January 2023, Mr. Richardson’s companies struck deals with telemarketing firms that generated durable medical equipment orders by targeting Medicare beneficiaries, including orthotic back and knee braces. The telemarketers paid Expansion and Hybrid on a per-order basis, and Mr. Richardson worked with medical staffing companies, including one in Massachusetts, to find physicians and nurses willing to sign prepopulated orders without examining the beneficiaries. Those signed orders were then sold to durable medical equipment suppliers, who Mr. Richardson knew would bill Medicare for equipment that was medically unnecessary and based on false documentation.
U.S. Attorney Leah Foley announced the sentence along with officials from HHS’ Office of Inspector General, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Labor Department and the Defense Criminal Investigation Service.
The case adds to a growing list of federal prosecutions targeting telehealth-linked durable medical equipment fraud schemes nationwide.
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