Floyd Calhoun ‘Cal’ Dent, III, Medicare Fraud, South Carolina 2021

Medicare Scam Exposed: $114 Million Judgment Against Floyd Calhoun ‘Cal’ Dent, III, and Co-Conspirators

Columbia, South Carolina – A South Carolina jury found Floyd Calhoun ‘Cal’ Dent, III, and his accomplices liable for defrauding the federal healthcare programs Medicare and Tricare, resulting in a $114 million judgment against them.

According to court documents, Dent’s marketing firm, BlueWave, paid commissions to independent contractors based on the number of blood tests sold, which is a clear violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. The scheme caused false claims to be submitted to federal healthcare programs for millions of dollars in unnecessary blood tests.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has affirmed the $114 million judgment against Dent and his co-conspirators. The court found that the United States provided abundant evidence of the defendants’ knowledge and intent to pay kickbacks, despite warnings from attorneys within HDL and BlueWave.

The Fourth Circuit also rejected the defendants’ contention that commissions to salespeople can never constitute kickbacks under the Anti-Kickback Statute. The court found that the scheme violated the Statute and, in turn, violated the False Claims Act.

The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Leventis, Tina Cundari, and Johanna Valenzuela. The Appellate Staff of the Justice Department handled the appeal.

Floyd Calhoun ‘Cal’ Dent, III, Defendant: Floyd Calhoun ‘Cal’ Dent, III, of Lexington, South Carolina.
Criminal Charges: Defrauding Medicare and Tricare
City and State: Columbia, South Carolina
Date: February 22, 2021
Sentence or Outcome: $114 million judgment
Amount: $114 million
Companies Involved: Health Diagnostics Laboratory, Inc. (‘HDL’) and Singulex, Inc.

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