An Ocean County, New Jersey, man admitted his role in a durable medical equipment kickback scheme. Alexander Schleider, 57, of Lakewood, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and one count of wire fraud. According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court: Schleider owned and operated durable medical equipment (DME) companies in New Jersey that provided orthotic braces to beneficiaries of Medicare and other federal and private healthcare benefit programs without regard to medical necessity. Schleider and his conspirators obtained prescriptions for the DME braces through the payment of kickbacks and bribes to individuals operating marketing call centers, who in turn utilized the service of telemedicine companies to obtain prescriptions for the DME. Schleider caused losses to Medicare and other healthcare benefit programs of $21.7 million.
Schleider also committed wire fraud in connection with funds made available in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. After one of his DME companies received $322,237 from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration Provider Relief Fund, Schleider submitted a fraudulent attestation to HRSA in which he claimed that the DME company provided diagnoses, testing, and care for individuals with possible or actual cases of COVID-19 after Jan. 31, 2020. In reality, the DME company had ceased billing for any services in April 2019. The attestation also falsely claimed that the payment would only be used to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, and that the payment shall reimburse the recipient only for healthcare related expenses or lost revenues that are attributable to coronavirus. Schleider did not use the funds for those purposes, but transferred them into other accounts and subsequently used them to purchase real estate and vehicles, among other things.
