Vernon Sanders, Medicare Fraud Conspiracy, Tennessee 2020

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - A Mississippi man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for his role in a Medicare fraud conspiracy.

Vernon Sanders, 57, was ordered to pay $3,381,434 in restitution to Medicare and forfeit $383,260. He was also sentenced to 3 years of supervised release.

Sanders was the owner of FastScripts, LLC, a marketing company that paid kickbacks to recruiters to acquire Medicare patients for genetic testing. The patients were then sent to laboratories for testing in exchange for kickbacks.

Between 2016 and 2020, Sanders paid marketers approximately $383,260 in kickbacks to recruit Medicare patients. The patients were given genetic testing without a medical necessity for the tests.

Sanders was aware that the tests were obtained through kickbacks, including kickbacks paid to a co-conspirator physician in Loretto, Tennessee. The co-conspirator physician, Individual 1, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in December 2020 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

“Genetic testing fraud schemes bilk the Medicare system out of millions of dollars and trick Medicare beneficiaries into providing their personal information and genetic material,” said United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah K. Bogni prosecuted the case.

Sanders was sentenced on December 2020, in the Middle District of Tennessee.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdtn/pr/mississippi-man-sentenced-18-months-federal-prison-medicare-fraud-conspiracy-charges