Frank Suess, Health Care Fraud, Pennsylvania 2020

HARRISBURG – A group of individuals, including Frank Suess, have been charged with health care fraud and kickback scheme in Pennsylvania.

Frank Suess, 78, of Wellington, Florida; Luis Salgado, 50, of Naperville, Illinois and Davenport, Florida; Melissa Driscoll, 43, of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania; Victor Velazco, 35, of Loxahatchee, Florida; Warren Pizik, 68, of Davie, Florida; Dave Singh, 37, of Pembroke Pines, Florida; and Diana Castro, 53, of Brooklyn, New York, have been indicted for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and multiple counts of health care fraud.

The indictment alleges that between 2019 and 2020, the defendants conspired to commit health care fraud through an arrangement designed to bill individuals’ health insurances for medically unnecessary prescription drug combinations known as ‘foot baths.’

Foot baths were purported to be an antibiotic and antifungal ‘foot soak’ treatment that patients were supposed to mix together and dissolve in a warm water solution, using a plastic foot tub that was sometimes shipped to them.

The cost associated with such drugs was very high. For instance, the insurance for P.B., an individual who was allegedly prescribed foot baths without her consent, was billed $43,209.99 for a one-month supply of tobramycin vials and $12,476.54 for a one-month supply of vancomycin capsules.

Many of these allegedly fraudulent foot bath orders were routed through Sterling Pharmacy, a pharmacy located in Jermyn, Pennsylvania, in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment alleges that Frank Suess, Victor Velazco, and Melissa Driscoll were also charged with conspiracy to obstruct a criminal investigation into health care offenses and falsification of records and information with the intent to obstruct a federal grand jury investigation.