Loftis ordered to pay more than $8 million, forfeit more than $560,000
A federal judge in Oklahoma sentenced chiropractor Mark Loftis, 39, of Cushing, to 14 years in federal prison on Friday for his role in a $30 million healthcare fraud scheme that targeted Medicare and programs serving military personnel and veterans, the Justice Department said.
A jury convicted Loftis in July following a 12-day trial of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Loftis and his accomplices submitted more than $30 million in fraudulent claims for medical equipment that patients did not need or want. The scheme ultimately collected more than $8 million from Medicare, TRICARE, and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, known as CHAMPVA.
Loftis paid more than $1 million in illegal kickbacks to marketers, telemedicine companies, and a call center that persuaded elderly and disabled Americans to provide their personal information and receive unnecessary medical equipment, prosecutors said. The payments were made in part through a shell marketing company.
The group also fulfilled fraudulent medical orders for orthopedic braces, continuous glucose monitors, and other equipment from doctors and nurse practitioners who never examined the patients, prosecutors said. The group frequently submitted claims for multiple medical braces for individual patients, including one instance in which eight braces were billed for a single person.
A judge ordered Loftis to pay more than $8 million in restitution and to forfeit more than $560,000.