MIAMI — A federal judge sentenced an Aventura healthcare executive to 204 months in prison and a Coral Springs telemarketing company owner to 92 months for defrauding Medicare Advantage plans of approximately $35 million by pressuring elderly beneficiaries into accepting medically unnecessary braces.
Senior U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham handed down the sentences after Michael Kochen, 42, and Sandro Herek, 56, were convicted at trial on conspiracy, health care fraud, and kickback charges. Medicare Advantage plans paid more than $19 million on the fraudulent claims.
“These defendants targeted elderly Medicare Advantage beneficiaries with relentless telemarketing and unnecessary medical equipment, generating approximately $35 million in fraudulent claims and more than $19 million in payments,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Michael Kochen and Sandro Herek treated vulnerable seniors as profit centers and federal health care programs as personal bank accounts. These substantial prison sentences hold them accountable, and we will pursue the forfeiture and recovery of their ill-gotten gains.”
Kochen owned dozens of companies that sold durable medical equipment, including back, knee, shoulder, and ankle braces, and paid illegal kickbacks to Herek and others to recruit Medicare beneficiaries. Herek oversaw overseas call centers, including in Egypt, that aggressively cold-called beneficiaries — often after initial refusals — using high-pressure tactics to induce them to accept braces regardless of medical necessity. Physicians frequently issued boilerplate medical authorizations based solely on call recordings rather than individualized evaluations, and in many instances never spoke with beneficiaries at all. When calls did occur, they lasted only minutes.
“These sentencings underscore the commitment of HHS-OIG to protecting the integrity of federal health care programs as well as the health and well-being of the many Americans who rely on those programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Isaac M. Bledsoe of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, Miami Regional Office. “Exploiting Medicare Advantage beneficiaries through deceptive telemarketing and fraudulent claims is not only illegal, it is reprehensible. These outcomes send a clear message: those who engage in health care fraud will be held accountable.”
Kochen was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud, six counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and three counts of payment of health care kickbacks. Herek was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud, one count of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and three counts of receiving health care kickbacks. HHS-OIG Miami and the FBI Miami Field Office, led by Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles, investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Roger Cruz, David Turken, and Robert F. Moore prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Demici is handling asset forfeiture proceedings, which prosecutors said will target the defendants’ ill-gotten gains. The case is filed under number 24-cr-20078 in the Southern District of Florida.