On July 1, 2025, a Florida man was sentenced to 12 years in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to defraud Medicare with false reimbursement claims for durable medical equipment (DME). He was also ordered to pay $21,195,540.18 in restitution and forfeiture in the amount of $2,514,040.
According to court documents, Peter Roussonicolos, 64, of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, owned and operated five DME suppliers as a silent partner. Roussonicolos hid his involvement in the companies from Medicare because he had one or more felony convictions, making him ineligible to enroll with the government program. To further conceal his involvement, he recruited and paid co-conspirators to serve as nominee owners of the DME suppliers and caused others to falsify Medicare enrollment forms, bank records, and other documents to conceal the true ownership and control of the DME suppliers. He also knew that a co-conspirator paid kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters in exchange for beneficiary referrals. As part of the scheme, the DME companies submitted approximately $61.5 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary DME that was ineligible for reimbursement and were paid approximately $26.7 million of these claims.
In November 2024, Roussonicolos pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud.
The Assistant Director of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division stated with regard to the sentencing: “This defendant and his co-conspirators orchestrated an elaborate scheme to steal millions from Medicare through kickbacks and sham billing. Today’s sentencing demonstrates that those who exploit our healthcare system for personal gain will be held accountable. The FBI is committed to working with our partners to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure the integrity of healthcare programs.”
The Deputy Inspector General for Investigations with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) stated: “Today’s sentence underscores HHS-OIG’s firm commitment to thoroughly investigating individuals who engage in illegal kickback schemes to prescribe medically unnecessary durable medical equipment for their own personal financial gain. We remain steadfast in our mission to protect the integrity of Medicare and other federal healthcare programs as well as the people served by those programs.”
If you have information regarding false claims having been submitted to Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, other federal health care programs, or to other federal agencies/programs, and the information is not publicly known and no actions have been taken by the government with regard to recovering the false claims, you should promptly consult with a False Claims Act attorney (also known as qui tam attorneys) in your U.S. state who may investigate the basis of your False Claims Act allegations and who may also assist you in bringing a qui tam lawsuit on behalf of the United States, if appropriate, for which you may be entitled to receive a portion of the recovery received by the U.S. government.
Visit our website or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to be connected with qui tam lawyers (False Claims Act lawyers) in your U.S. state who may assist you with a False Claims Act lawsuit.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.
