An Amory native and former Ole Miss football player could spend multiple decades behind bars for his alleged role in a major Medicare fraud scheme.
On Wednesday, a federal jury in Florida convicted Joel “Rufus” French for the part he reportedly played in a years-long scheme to defraud the Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) out of nearly $200 million by selling patient information and sham doctors’ orders for orthotic braces that patients did not want or need.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, French worked with overseas call centers that pressured elderly Americans to provide their personal and health insurance information and agree to accept medically unnecessary orthotic braces. Some of the individuals who agreed to the braces suffered from Alzheimer’s and dementia. In certain instances, the call centers altered call recordings to make it seem like Medicare patients agreed to the braces when they did not.
Court records further show that French paid sham telemedicine companies to obtain signed orders from doctors and nurse practitioners who never examined, and often never even spoke to, the patients. He sold the orders to marketers and medical supply companies, which then submitted claims to Medicare.
“This scheme built on sham operations exploited seniors and corrupted the federal health care system. By falsifying doctors’ orders and selling patient information, the defendant sought to turn Medicare into their own personal ATM machine,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. “HHS-OIG will stop and catch anyone who exploits vulnerable patients to bilk federal healthcare programs and hold them accountable to the full extent of the law.”
French also defrauded Medicare and CHAMPVA – the health care program for spouses and children of veterans who have or had a permanent and total service-connected disability or who died from a service-connected condition – by billing the programs for orthotic braces through eight durable medical equipment supply companies that he owned and managed. He allegedly used false documents to hide his connection to the companies from Medicare.
The evidence at trial showed that French and his co-conspirators caused Medicare to be billed for braces for amputees for limbs they did not have and for deceased beneficiaries. Also during the conspiracy, French withdrew approximately $225,000 in cash from a bank in Mississippi, over $10,000 of which was placed in a bag and driven to Florida to pay accomplices who sold him beneficiaries’ personal and insurance information.
“This defendant’s conduct was egregious: he targeted seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia and billed Medicare for orthotic braces for deceased patients and amputees,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These schemes undermine the integrity of our health care system by robbing taxpayer-funded programs meant for legitimate medical care. Today’s verdict sends a clear message: the Criminal Division will aggressively prosecute those who prey on our nation’s seniors and veterans to steal from Medicare.”
The Florida jury convicted French of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to offer, pay, solicit, and receive kickbacks. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering, and five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States.
French was an All-American tight end for Ole Miss from 1996-99, finishing his college career with 84 receptions, 814 receiving yards, and four touchdowns. He also spent three seasons in the NFL, playing for the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers.