Two Florida men were arraigned on charges relating to their roles in a multimillion-dollar durable medical equipment (DME) and prescription drug healthcare fraud and kickback scheme. Nicholas A. Alberino, 61, of Boca Raton, Florida, and his son, Nicholas P. Alberino, 34, of Parkland, Florida, are each charged in a seven-count indictment with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to violate the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, and four counts of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute.
From February 2018 to April 2019, the Alberinos operated five Florida companies, each of which generated medically unnecessary prescriptions for certain expensive medications as well as DME such as orthotic braces through a telemarketing and telemedicine scheme. The Alberinos specifically sought to identify and target Medicare beneficiaries. Call centers contacted the beneficiaries by telephone and pressured them to accept the expensive medications and DME. The Alberinos then transmitted the beneficiaries’ personal information, as well as pre-written doctor’s orders and prescriptions, to RediDoc LLC, a purported telemedicine company. The Alberinos pre-selected prescription medications and DME for beneficiaries based on the potential for high reimbursement payments from insurance payers such as Medicare, and not based on the beneficiaries’ medical needs.
