Former NFL Player Convicted in $197M Medicare and CHAMPVA Healthcare Fraud Scheme

A federal jury in the Middle District of Florida recently convicted Joel Rufus French, a former NFL player and owner of multiple marketing and durable medical equipment companies, for his role in a massive Medicare and CHAMPVA healthcare fraud scheme. French orchestrated a years-long conspiracy to obtain nearly $197 million by selling patient information and sham doctors’ orders for orthotic braces that patients did not need, want, or in many cases had never requested. Prosecutors revealed that the scheme exploited elderly Americans (including individuals with Alzheimer’s and dementia) and included billing for equipment for deceased patients or amputees without limbs.

According to evidence presented at trial, French worked with overseas call centers that pressured vulnerable beneficiaries to provide personal and insurance information, which he then used to generate fraudulent orders from telemedicine providers who never examined the patients. He concealed his ownership of the durable medical equipment companies that submitted the false claims to Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA). A jury found French guilty of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to offer and receive illegal kickbacks. He now faces significant prison time under federal sentencing guidelines.