Mass. man charged in connection with $30 million healthcare fraud scheme
SHARON, Mass. (WWLP) – A man from Sharon who owns two medical equipment companies has been charged in federal court in connection with a nearly $30 million fraud scheme.
Raju Sharma, 61, of Sharon, was arrested last Thursday. Sharma is the owner of Pharmagears, LLC and RR Medco, LLC, which sells durable medical equipment (DME) such as back and knee braces.
Charging documents stated that between February 2021 and February 2025, Sharma allegedly entered into contracts on behalf of Pharmagears and RR Medco with telemarketing companies that generated DME orders by targeting Medicare beneficiaries.
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Sharma would then allegedly bill Medicare for the medically unnecessary DME, which the beneficiaries would often not want or be able to use, or that a medical practitioner ordered for them without their knowledge or consent. Documents stated that there were times that the practitioners would sometimes order the DME for their patients without having even met or examined them.
The DME orders were also allegedly obtained in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. Although Sharma agreed in the contracts he had signed that he would pay the telemarketing companies a flat fee for their services, he actually paid them on a per-order basis.
It was further alleged that Sharma worked alongside other co-conspirators such as family or acquaintances to operate other DME companies. In total, the telemarketing companies working with Sharma billed Medicare about $29.6 million and were paid about $15.8 million.
The charging documents said that Sharma's alleged fraud allowed him to purchase many luxury goods through his profits, including two Ferraris, a Mercedes-Benz Model S, and at least three Rolex watches. These goods were seized through a warrant issued by the court.
Sharma was charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. He will be sentenced at a later date.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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