A New York-based national sales director pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to conspiring to offer and pay kickbacks to doctors in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary brain scans. David Fuhrmann, 60, of Port Jefferson, NY pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute. From at least June 2013 through at least September 2020, Fuhrmann conspired with others, including two managers for a mobile medical diagnostics company that performed transcranial doppler (TCD) scans, to enter into kickback agreements with various doctors. Fuhrmann and his co-conspirators agreed to offer and pay doctors kickbacks based on the number of TCD ultrasounds the doctors ordered. Some doctors were paid in cash and others by check. Fuhrmann and his co-conspirators created rental and administrative service agreements. On paper, these agreements made it appear as if doctors were compensated for the TCD company’s use of space and administrative resources based on fair market value and not based on the volume or value of referrals. These agreements were shams that hid the true nature of the arrangement of paying per test. According to the charging documents, the scheme resulted in fraudulent bills of approximately $70.6 million to Medicare.
