Fort Lauderdale, FL – Christopher Harwood, 43, pleaded guilty Friday to orchestrating a $46.2 million Medicare fraud scheme that operated for over six years. Harwood admitted to owning and operating TelevisitMD, a telemedicine company used to illegally obtain prescriptions for unnecessary orthotic braces and genetic tests.
According to court documents, Harwood and his co-conspirators used aggressive telemarketing to target Medicare patients, inducing them to accept medically unnecessary items. Harwood then paid doctors to approve these orders without establishing legitimate patient relationships or conducting proper telemedicine visits, violating Medicare regulations.
The approved orders were sold to durable medical equipment (DME) companies and laboratories involved in the fraudulent scheme. Harwood also owned multiple DME companies in Florida, which billed Medicare for the unnecessary braces, resulting in at least $46.2 million in false claims. Sentencing has not yet been determined.
The investigation revealed a widespread conspiracy to defraud Medicare through the exploitation of telemedicine services.
Investigating agencies included the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Source: Department of Justice