A federal jury has convicted the owners of two Texas-based medical supply companies on charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks and to commit money-laundering.
Leah Hagen, 49, and Michael Hagen, 54, of Arlington, Texas, owned Metro DME Supply and Ortho Pain Solutions, both located in the same facility in Arlington, the U.S. Justice Department said July 9.
Both Ms. Hagen and Mr. Hagen paid bribes and kickbacks and wired money to co-conspirators in the Philippines to get signed physicians' orders for orthotic braces, the Justice Department said. They paid a fixed rate in exchange for prescriptions and paperwork completed by telemedicine physicians that were used to submit false claims to Medicare, the department said.
Through the scheme, the defendants billed Medicare about $59 million, and they received about $27 million. They wired millions into their personal bank accounts, the Justice Department said.
Both owners face a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
Read the Justice Department's full news release here.