A Georgia telemedicine executive who turned back braces into a cash machine for years is headed to federal prison. Reinaldo Wilson, 57, formerly of Richmond Hill, Georgia, was sentenced Thursday to seven years behind bars and ordered to repay $27.9 million after admitting his companies funneled bogus doctors’ orders for orthotic braces into Medicare and resold those signed orders for profit.
According to the Justice Department, Wilson ran Bayonne, New Jersey-based telemedicine companies that paid illegal kickbacks to medical providers willing to sign off on orthotic braces that Medicare beneficiaries did not actually need. Providers working for him signed four or more orthotic orders each for more than 3,000 beneficiaries, and more than 40 beneficiaries were hit with orders for 10 or more braces apiece. Prosecutors say the conspirators pushed more than $56 million in false claims to Medicare, which ultimately paid out over $27.9 million. Wilson pleaded guilty in March 2021 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud.
“Instead of connecting patients with legitimate care, Reinaldo Wilson used his telemedicine companies to exploit Medicare and line his own pockets,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said, according to the Justice Department. Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy of the FBI’s Newark Field Office underscored that large-scale telemedicine fraud remains a prime target for investigators. The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigations and HHS-OIG handled the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Darren C. Halverson and Nicholas K. Peone of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.
How the Scheme Worked
Prosecutors say Wilson and his co-conspirators turned signed doctor orders into a commodity. After paying medical providers to sign off, they allegedly sold those completed orders to marketing companies, which then resold them to brace suppliers. Beneficiaries were steered into accepting multiple braces so the players in the chain could squeeze the highest possible Medicare reimbursements out of each patient…