The owner of two telemedicine companies pleaded guilty to his role in a $44 million fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary durable medical equipment.
David Santana, 38, of Reading, Mass., owned Conclave Media and Nationwide Health Advocates and from January 2018 and August 2021 entered into business relationships with telemarketing companies that generated leads by targeting Medicare beneficiaries, according to a Sept. 27 Justice Department news release.
The telemarketers paid Conclave and Nationwide to generate orders for medical equipment and genetic testing for those beneficiaries. Mr. Santana worked with medical staffing companies to find physicians and nurses willing to review and sign prepopulated orders without any contact with the beneficiaries. He then provided the signed orders to the telemedicine companies, which sold the orders to equipment suppliers laboratories, the release said.
Mr. Santana faces up to 10 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 7.