James Rausch, Kickback Scheme, Massachusetts 2026

A brazen kickback scheme in the Northeast region has come to an end with a hefty price tag for the mastermind behind it.

James Rausch, 57, of Point Jefferson Station, N.Y., was sentenced on Feb. 13, 2026, in federal court in Boston for conspiring to offer and pay kickbacks to doctors in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary brain scans.

Rausch, a former sales director for the Northeast region of a mobile medical diagnostics company, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute.

From March 2015 through at least September 2020, Rausch conspired with others, including two managers for a mobile medical diagnostics company that performed transcranial doppler (TCD) scans, to enter into kickback agreements with various doctors.

TCD scans are brain scans that measure blood flow in parts of the brain. Rausch and his co-conspirators agreed to offer and pay doctors kickbacks, some in cash and others by check, based on the number of TCD ultrasounds the doctors ordered.

The scheme resulted in fraudulent bills of approximately $70.6 million to Medicare, with Medicare paying out around $27.2 million to the TCD company for the false claims.

Rausch was sentenced to eight months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $17,573,642 in restitution, forfeiture in the amount of $408,437, and a $20,000 fine.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/new-york-man-sentenced-eight-months-prison-kickback-scheme