Tampa resident Monty Ray Grow, 46, was convicted on February 5, 2018, in federal court in the Southern District of Florida, found guilty on 18 criminal counts tied to a massive Tricare health care fraud scheme, kickbacks, and money laundering. The jury in Miami returned a unanimous verdict, marking a major win for federal prosecutors targeting systemic abuse of military health benefits.
Grow orchestrated a scheme from 2014 to 2015 that defrauded Tricare— the U.S. military’s health care program—of tens of millions of dollars. He targeted Tricare beneficiaries, bribing them to order medically unnecessary, high-cost drugs. Tricare footed the bill, while a Broward County pharmacy split half the profits with Grow. In total, he received nearly $20 million in illegal kickbacks, all drawn from funds meant for active and retired service members and their families.
Evidence presented at trial revealed that Grow manipulated drug formulations, artificially inflating prices billed to Tricare. He sold engineered ingredients to compounding pharmacies to maximize reimbursements. He also paid telemedicine companies to issue prescriptions without a single patient examination, ensuring the fraudulent orders were rubber-stamped by doctors who never saw their patients.
Grow didn’t stop at fraud—he laundered the illicit proceeds through luxury purchases, hiding the trail of his criminal enterprise. His actions not only siphoned off critical military health care funds but also endangered public health by flooding the system with unnecessary and potentially harmful medications.
The investigation has already led to the convictions of eight co-conspirators: Ginger Lay, 40, of Atlanta, Georgia; Paul Robinson, 40, and Deanna Dutting, 40, both of Ormond Beach, Florida; Raymond Bear, 46, of Flemming Island, Florida; Robin Halliburton, 45, of Ponte Vedra, Florida; Michael Shane Matthews, 47, of Newberry, Florida; Michael Bowman, 43, and Sven Bjerke, 39, both of Jacksonville, Florida. Together, they’ve returned approximately $3.3 million in seized assets to the U.S. government.
Grow is scheduled for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno on April 16, 2018, at 9:30 a.m. U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg stated: “Monty Grow has been held responsible for an egregious fraud scheme that unlawfully diverted approximately $20 million in federal health care monies… and jeopardized the public’s health for personal gain.” The DOJ vows continued crackdowns on those exploiting federal health programs for profit.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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