Company owner charged in $44M telehealth fraud case

David Santana, owner of Conclave Media and Nationwide Health Advocates, has been charged in a $44 million telemedicine scheme. 

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Between January 2018 and August 2021, Mr. Santana’s companies allegedly partnered with telemarketing companies to conduct a fraud scheme that targeted Medicare beneficiaries, according to a July 24 press release from the Justice Department.

The telemarketers would allegedly pay Mr. Santana’s companies, Conclave Media and Nationwide Health Advocates, to generate orders for unnecessary durable medical equipment and genetic testing for Medicare beneficiaries. 

Mr. Santana also allegedly worked with “medical staffing companies to find doctors and nurses who were willing to review and sign prepopulated orders, typically without any contact with the beneficiaries,” according to the release. 

Mr. Santana agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, but a  plea hearing is yet to be scheduled.

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