San Diego, California – Jacobo Melcer, a 61-year-old resident of Bonita and longtime businessowner, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to his role in a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud scheme that involved falsified prescriptions, sham ownership transfers, and a network of kickbacks for patient referrals.
According to court documents, Melcer operated two durable medical equipment (DME) companies that billed Medicare for orthotic braces—items like wrist, knee, and back supports. But rather than serving a legitimate medical need, the scheme relied on fraudulent prescriptions and payments to marketers who funneled patient referrals his way.
Federal prosecutors allege Melcer paid over $227,000 in kickbacks to third-party companies that connected him with Medicare beneficiaries, many of whom had never met or been examined by the physicians whose names appeared on the prescriptions. These so-called evaluations often took place without any meaningful contact between doctor and patient—a glaring violation of Medicare rules…