Florida Father and Son Accused in $27 Million Health Care Fraud
Two men from Florida were arraigned on Tuesday in connection with a large-scale scheme involving durable medical equipment (DME) and prescription drug fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of New Jersey.
Nicholas A. Alberino, 61, of Boca Raton, and his son, Nicholas P. Alberino, 34, of Parkland, face a seven-count indictment that includes charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to violate the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, and four counts of Anti-Kickback Statute violations.
The indictment alleges that, from February 2018 to April 2019, the Alberinos ran five companies in Florida that produced unnecessary prescriptions for high-cost medications and DME through a telemarketing and telemedicine scheme. Medicare beneficiaries were reportedly targeted through call centers that pressured them to accept these products.
The Alberinos allegedly sent Medicare beneficiaries’ personal details and pre-written prescriptions to RediDoc LLC, a supposed telemedicine company. Rather than basing prescriptions on actual medical needs, the Alberinos selected medications and equipment with high insurance reimbursement potential, focusing on Medicare claims.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, RediDoc sent these prescriptions to doctors, who generally signed them without seeing or evaluating the patients. Once signed, the Alberinos directed RediDoc to send the prescriptions to third-party companies, with whom they had established illegal kickback and bribery deals.
These DME suppliers and pharmacies filled the orders and filed reimbursement claims with Medicare and other health care programs. Over $6 million in kickbacks and bribes was allegedly paid to RediDoc, while the Alberinos received over $27 million from these third parties. Additionally, they are said to have collected more than $1.7 million by submitting fraudulent claims through their own companies.
According to the indictment, Medicare paid at least $27 million to suppliers and pharmacies for these fraudulent claims initiated by the Alberinos.
