德州男子提交5990万美元虚假医保申报，被判90个月监禁
2026年3月9日，美国司法部宣布，位于德克萨斯州 Fulshear 的 Patrick Cassells（65岁）因参与一桩 5990 万美元的联邦医疗保险（Medicare）欺诈被判处 90 个月监禁。判决已于3月6日在德州南区联邦法院作出，司法部于3月9日发布。Cassells 通过三家耐用医疗设备公司提交虚假申报，医保实际支付了超过 2700 万美元。
据法庭文件，Cassells 拥有并经营三家耐用医疗设备公司，并在一家公司的医保登记申请中虚假填报他人为唯一所有人兼经理，隐瞒自己的角色。他向同谋支付非法回扣，换取签有医生处方订单等可用于向医保申报的文件；这些回扣被伪装成购买「线索」与「营销」服务的费用。膝、背、肩、腕等矫形支具的处方订单未经医生诊查或治疗患者便已开出，Cassells 据此申报这些支具具有医疗必要性。他用欺诈所得购买了自用车辆，以及打算出口到尼日利亚的车辆。
Cassells 于2024年6月在德州南区就一项共谋医疗保健欺诈罪认罪。除 90 个月监禁外，法院责令他支付 25,402,614.97 美元的赔偿与没收，并没收四辆汽车与位于休斯顿地区的三处房产。
司法部刑事司助理部长 A. Tysen Duva 与德州南区联邦检察官 Nicholas J. Ganjei 等官员宣布了这一判决。此案由美国卫生与公众服务部监察长办公室、联邦调查局与德州总检察长办公室医保欺诈控制部门调查，司法部刑事司欺诈科与德州南区联邦检察官办公室负责起诉。
关联：CMS全国暂停医疗供应公司新登记医保，六个月防欺诈冻结2月27日生效
关联：1亿美元膳食补充剂欺诈洗钱案最后一名被告被判36个月监禁
Texas Man Sentenced to 90 Months for $59.9 Million Medicare Fraud
On March 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Patrick Cassells, 65, of Fulshear, Texas, had been sentenced to 90 months in prison for his role in a $59.9 million Medicare fraud conspiracy. The sentence was imposed on March 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, and the department released the announcement on March 9. Through three durable medical equipment companies, Cassells caused over $59.9 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, for which Medicare paid over $27 million.
According to court documents, Cassells owned and operated three durable medical equipment companies and concealed his role in one of them by falsely identifying another individual as its sole owner and manager in a Medicare enrollment application. He paid illegal kickbacks to co-conspirators who sent him signed doctors' orders and other paperwork needed to bill Medicare for orthotic braces for the knee, back, shoulder and wrist. The kickbacks were disguised by calling the doctors' orders 'leads' and the services 'marketing.' The orders were issued without doctors examining or treating the patients, and Cassells billed Medicare on the basis that the braces were medically necessary. He used the proceeds to buy personal vehicles and vehicles he intended to export to Nigeria.
Cassells pleaded guilty in June 2024 in the Southern District of Texas to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In addition to the prison term, he was ordered to pay $25,402,614.97 in restitution and forfeiture and to forfeit four vehicles and three properties in the Houston area.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei for the Southern District of Texas were among the officials who announced the sentence. The case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the FBI and the Texas Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and prosecuted by the Criminal Division's Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas.
来源：美国司法部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于美国华盛顿的美国卫生与公众服务部总部休伯特·汉弗莱大楼，联邦医疗保险由该部下属机构管理（资料照片）。ajay_suresh 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Hubert H. Humphrey Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in Washington, D.C.; Medicare is administered by an agency within the department (file photo). Photo by ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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