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Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Man facing massive restitution payment for $30M scheme targeting Medicare patients
A businessman who perpetrated a nearly $30 million health care fraud could be forced to pay back more than $15 million in restitution after agreeing to plead guilty to federal charges this week. Raju Sharma, 61, of Sharon, owned a medical device company that targeted Medicare beneficiaries by billing the federal health care program for devices the patients often did not need, according to federal prosecutors. The company billed Medicare more than $29 million for fraudulent medical device orders between 2021 and 2025, roughly $15.8 million of which was paid out. With the 'substantial profits' he earned from the scheme, Sharma purchased two Ferraris, a Mercedes-Benz, at least three Rolex watches and other high-end goods, prosecutors said. Sharma agreed to forfeit the luxury items and over $250,000 in cash federal investigators seized from his bank accounts, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Massachusetts. The office will also recommend that he be sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $15.8 million in restitution. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. Sharma was arrested in February and released pending trial. He was detained again last month after authorities said he violated the conditions of his release by contacting at least one potential witness in the case. Sharma, acting on behalf of his companies Pharmagears and RR Medco, worked with telemarketing companies to generate medical device orders for Medicare beneficiaries, prosecutors said. He is accused of billing Medicare for medically unnecessary devices, which the patients often did not want or could not use. Some devices were ordered without a medical practitioner examining the patient, while others were ordered without providers' knowledge. Though Sharma agreed in contracts to pay the market companies a flat fee, he instead paid them on a per-lead or per-order basis, in violation of anti-kickback laws, prosecutors said. He claimed to be a police officer selling repossessed cars. The scam cost buyers $1,000s Justice Dept. official ID's next step in Springfield police reform, amid uncertainty over its status Feeding Hills woman to plead guilty in commercial mortgage scheme 'Strange and dangerous precedent': Tufts student's lawyer argues to keep case in Mass. Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Yahoo
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. Mass. man sentenced to prison for perjury in homicide investigation 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 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
