Connecticut Man Admits Role in $7.8 Million Health Care Fraud and Kickback Scheme

NEWARK, N.J. - A Connecticut man admitted his role in a multimillion-dollar durable medical equipment (DME) health care fraud and kickback scheme, Attorney for the United States Vikas Khanna announced.

Jesse Foote, 58, of Fairfield, Connecticut, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in Newark federal court to a two-count information charging him with conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback statute and conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From December 2017 to March 2021, Foote conspired with overseas telemarking call centers, DME suppliers, telemedicine companies, and doctors to submit fraudulent claims to health care benefit programs, including Medicare and TRICARE, through a circular scheme of kickbacks and bribes. Foote controlled a marketing company though which he purchased patient "leads" from overseas telemarking companies, which consisted of information about Medicare and other beneficiaries and pre-written doctors' orders for DME. The telemarketing call centers targeted Medicare beneficiaries and others with health insurance to persuade them to accept DME, including orthotic braces, without regard to medical necessity. Foote paid bribes and kickbacks to telemedicine companies, which in turn paid bribes and kickbacks to doctors, to obtain doctors' orders for DME based on the leads. The doctors often approved the DME orders without having had any contact with the beneficiary and without making a bona fide assessment that the DME was medically necessary. Foote then sold the signed doctors' orders to others with whom he had kickback arrangements. The doctors' orders were ultimately submitted to DME suppliers, including DME suppliers controlled by Foote, which submitted fraudulent claims for reimbursement to health care benefit programs including Medicare, TRICARE, and private insurance companies.

In total, Foote and his conspirators caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims to health care benefit programs totaling more than $7.8 million for DME.

The kickback conspiracy charge is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison, and the health care fraud conspiracy charge is punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison. Both charges are punishable by a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2025.

Attorney for the United States Khanna credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Naomi Gruchacz, and U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Northeast Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian J. Solecki, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine M. Romano of the Health Care Fraud Unit and Senior Trial Counsel Barbara Ward of the Asset Recovery and Money Laundering Unit in Newark.