TAMPA, Fla. — Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa teamed up with multiple federal agencies for an investigation that has led to criminal charges against nine Floridians and one Ohioan in connection with alleged schemes to defraud programs for elderly and disabled care and obtain controlled substances through fraud.
HSI Tampa partnered with the Middle District of Florida, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, the FBI, the IRS’ Criminal Investigation Division, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations to investigate and prosecute the cases filed during the enforcement period. U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the charges, which are part of the Department of Justice’s 2024 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action.
The Middle District of Florida cases are part of a strategically coordinated, two-week nationwide law enforcement action that resulted in criminal charges against 193 defendants for their alleged participation in health care fraud and opioid abuse schemes that resulted in over $2.75 billion in alleged false billings. The defendants allegedly defrauded programs entrusted for the care of the elderly and disabled to line their own pockets, and the government, in connection with the enforcement action, seized over $231 million in cash, luxury vehicles, gold and other assets.
- Ma Gracia Cadet, 53, of Kissimmee, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with an alleged scheme to fraudulently obtain over $9.3 million in Medicare funds. According to the information, Cadet, the owner of durable medical equipment companies KGA Medical Supply LLC and Sapphire Medical Supply LLC, caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for equipment that was medically unnecessary and ineligible for reimbursement by Medicare. Cadet offered and paid illegal kickbacks to her co-conspirators at purported telemedicine companies in exchange for signed doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary orthotic braces that were ultimately billed to Medicare. The case is being prosecuted by trial attorney Jessica A. Massey of the Florida Strike Force.
- Eva LeBeau, 65, of Clearwater, and Lori Lebrecht, 60, of Largo, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks, as well as with paying illegal health care kickbacks to patient recruiters, in connection with an alleged scheme to refer Medicare beneficiaries to Prestigious Senior Home Health Care, Inc. and to submit false and fraudulent claims totaling over $2 million for home health services. LeBeau owned Prestigious and Lebrecht was Prestigious’ director of nursing. The indictment alleges that LeBeau and Lebrecht conspired to pay, and paid, patient recruiters per patient referral that Prestigious to billed to Medicare. Medicare paid approximately $1.3 million based on the false and fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by trial attorneys Reginald Cuyler Jr. and Charles D. Strauss of the Florida Strike Force.
- Robert Desselle, 46, of Sarasota, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States to pay and receive health care kickbacks and paying illegal health care kickbacks in connection with a scheme to pay patient recruiters in exchange for referring Medicare beneficiaries. The alleged scheme involved Desselle, through his company Desselle’s Sky High Enterprise, LLC, paying marketers on a per-patient basis to recruit Medicare beneficiaries for cancer genetic testing tests that were not medically necessary. As a result of the scheme, Medicare paid approximately $4.5 million on claims billed for these beneficiaries. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Charles D. Strauss of the Florida Strike Force.
- Marques Elijah Green, 29, of Windermere, was charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with an alleged scheme to fraudulently obtain over $3.4 million in Medicare funds. According to the information, Green, owner of durable medical equipment companies Onyx Medical Supply LLC and AquaMed Supply LLC, caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for equipment that was medically unnecessary and ineligible for reimbursement by Medicare. Green offered and paid kickbacks to his co-conspirators at purported telemedicine companies in exchange for signed doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary orthotic braces that were ultimately billed to Medicare. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jessica A. Massey of the Florida Strike Force.
- Lisa Williams, 56, of Lithia, was charged by indictment with six counts of tampering with a consumer product and six counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud in connection with her unlawfully acquiring and tampering with fentanyl infusion bags at a hospital. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Pizzo of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
- Lawrence Waldman, 57, of Miami, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to solicit and receive illegal kickbacks and bribes, as well as with illegal monetary transactions in connection with a scheme to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. As alleged in the indictment, Waldman worked for ASAP Lab, LLC as a sales representative. Waldman used his position with ASAP to travel throughout the state of Florida and elsewhere to obtain genetic and respiratory viral panel test swabs from Medicare beneficiaries. Waldman and his co-conspirators used the test swabs, along with requisition forms containing forged and unauthorized signatures of medical practitioners, to obtain approximately $380,000 in illegal kickbacks and bribes for causing the submission of false and fraudulent claims for reimbursement from Medicare. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany E. Fields of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
- Erin Kim, 54, of Orlando, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and distribution of controlled substances, in connection with her role in an unlawful scheme to distribute Adderall and other stimulants. As alleged in the indictment, Kim was a nurse practitioner employed by Done, a California-based digital health company. In the course of her employment with Done, Kim prescribed Adderall and other stimulants that were not for a legitimate medical purpose in the usual course of professional practice. The indictment further alleges that Kim and others fabricated patient files and signed prescriptions for Adderall and other stimulants where Done patients did not meet the requisite diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, where the prescriptions posed a risk of diversion, and where the dosages went beyond what was normally prescribed. In total, Kim is alleged to have prescribed over 1.5 million pills of Adderall and other stimulants, for which she was paid over $800,000. Trial Attorney Raymond Beckering III of the National Rapid Response Strike Force is prosecuting the case.
- Eric Brewer, 28, of Lakeland, was charged by indictment with tampering with a consumer product and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud in connection with his unlawfully acquiring and tampering with fentanyl infusion bags. As alleged in the indictment, Brewer, a registered nurse who worked in intensive care units, engaged in two similar criminal schemes to divert fentanyl at five Tampa-area hospitals on seven different dates. In the first scheme, which Brewer executed on several occasions, he stole fentanyl by checking out 100 mL bags of liquid fentanyl from locked controlled substance cabinets but keeping them for himself rather than administering them to patients or returning them. In the second scheme, Brewer used hospital computers to research which patients were receiving fentanyl intravenously, entered those patients’ rooms even when he had no medical reason to do so, and surreptitiously siphoned fentanyl from their IV drip bags into his own vessel; Brewer would then go to the hospital bathroom, where he would inject himself with stolen fentanyl. Sometimes, Brewer tried to cover his theft by replacing the fentanyl he withdrew with an equivalent volume of saline, but sometimes he did not. In both scenarios, however, Brewer’s actions deprived the most vulnerable patients of needed medicine. Brewer was caught when colleagues observed him acting impaired during a shift and the person who entered the bathroom immediately after Brewer exited found a bloody paper towel and needle inside.
Hospital officials subsequently examined records and video and discovered Brewer’s pattern of diversion. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Gordon of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
- Waymon Wallace, 63, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was charged by information with conspiracy to solicit and receive illegal kickbacks and bribes in connection with a scheme to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. Wallace, a licensed physician and an enrolled Medicare provider, agreed to sign and authorize the use of his signature on laboratory requisition forms for medically unnecessary genetic and respiratory panel tests in exchange for cash. Wallace and his co-conspirators caused over $500,000 in false and fraudulent claims for reimbursement to be submitted to Medicare. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany E. Fields of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
“The U.S. attorney’s office is committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to investigate and prosecute health care fraud,” said Handberg. “This enforcement action demonstrates my office’s resolve, and that of the Department of Justice — to protect these programs and the people they benefit — from exploitation.”
“It does not matter if you are a trafficker in a drug cartel or a corporate executive or medical professional employed by a health care company, if you profit from the unlawful distribution of controlled substances, you will be held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department will bring to justice criminals who defraud Americans, steal from taxpayer-funded programs and put people in danger for the sake of profits.”
A complaint, indictment, or information is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.