Travis Anthony Mason, Healthcare Fraud, South Carolina 2024

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – In a brazen scheme to defraud TRICARE, a healthcare program for military personnel and their families, Travis Anthony Mason, 52, of Aiken, South Carolina, has been sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison.

On January 24, 2024, United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson imposed the sentence on Mason, citing his role in the marketing and sale of prescription compounded medications that were medically unnecessary, and often filled by compounding pharmacies.

Mason, through his company M3 Medical LLC, knowingly targeted individuals with federally funded health insurance plans, including TRICARE, and obtained prescriptions for compounded medications that yielded high reimbursement amounts. For every compounded prescription filled, Mason was paid a percentage of the reimbursement amount.

According to evidence presented in court, Mason and his coconspirators caused $1,966,194.00 in loss to TRICARE over a two-year period. The scheme involved compounding pharmacies and a physician who obtained and wrote prescriptions for the compounded medications.

U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs stated that healthcare fraud steals resources from people who need care, particularly those who have bravely served our nation. She commended the hard work of agency partners in the investigation and prosecution of Mason.

“Travis Mason thought TRICARE and other Federal healthcare programs were easy targets for fraud; he was sorely mistaken,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Mid-Atlantic Field Office. “Nationwide fraud schemes like this degrade our healthcare system. They also put the public and the military at risk. DCIS stands resolute with its Federal law enforcement partners to disrupt, dismantle, and prosecute perpetrators of these schemes.”

Mason will serve 31 months in federal prison, followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,966,194.00. The case was investigated by the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Amy F. Bower prosecuted the case.

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