Three telemarking company owners were charged for their alleged participation in a $47 million healthcare fraud, kickback, and money laundering scheme involving the referral of medically unnecessary cancer genetic tests to labs in exchange for kickbacks. An indictment charges Christian McKeon, 35, and Athanasios Ziros, 42, each of Boca Raton, Florida, with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, multiple counts of substantive healthcare fraud and kickback offenses, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and substantive counts of money laundering offenses. Also, an information charges Gregory Orr, 64, of Boca Raton, with one count of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks and one substantive count of receipt of kickbacks for his alleged role in this scheme.
According to the indictment, McKeon and Ziros allegedly participated in a scheme to operate a telemarketing campaign targeting Medicare beneficiaries in an effort to induce them to accept cancer genetic tests regardless of whether the tests were medically necessary or eligible for Medicare reimbursement. As part of the scheme, McKeon and Ziros allegedly offered and paid illegal kickbacks and bribes to telemedicine companies in exchange for doctors’ orders for expensive cancer genetic tests. The doctors’ orders were written by doctors contracted with telemedicine companies, even though those telemedicine doctors had no prior relationship with the beneficiaries, were not treating the beneficiaries for cancer or symptoms of cancer, did not use the test results in the treatment of the beneficiaries, and did not conduct a proper telemedicine visit.
