Key facts
- Fifteen individuals charged in schemes defrauding Medicare, Medicaid, and other health care programs of over $10.6 billion.
- Three men sentenced for defrauding Medicare and laundering over $2.2 million in health care fraud proceeds.
- Fraudulent durable medical equipment companies submitted $6.9 million in false claims for medically unnecessary braces.
- The schemes involved illegal kickbacks and the use of shell companies to launder illicit funds.
- The charges are part of the 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, a coordinated law enforcement action.
The Justice Department has announced charges against fifteen individuals, including two pharmacists, for their alleged roles in schemes that defrauded Medicare, Medicaid, and other health care benefit programs of more than $10.6 billion. This action is part of the 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, a coordinated law enforcement effort across the United States.
In one case, three South Florida men—Marco Scamarone, Jose Mendez, and Renee Vazquez—were sentenced to prison for their involvement in a scheme that defrauded Medicare and laundered over $2.2 million in illicit proceeds. The men operated fraudulent durable medical equipment companies, Braces and Orthotics LLC and Stone Oak Durable Medical Equipment LLC, submitting approximately $6.9 million in fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary orthotic braces between January 2022 and February 2023. The conspiracy included illegal kickbacks paid to an offshore marketing company for patient referrals.
Scamarone received a 70-month sentence, Mendez a 78-month sentence, and Vazquez a 60-month sentence. Scamarone and Mendez were ordered to pay over $5.2 million in forfeiture and restitution, while Vazquez was ordered to pay over $3.9 million.
Another part of the takedown, dubbed 'Operation Gold Rush,' involves eleven defendants accused of orchestrating a multibillion-dollar health care fraud and money laundering scheme as members of a transnational criminal organization based in Russia and elsewhere. U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated that the administration will not tolerate criminals who profit from taxpayer dollars while endangering community health and safety.