Rickey Kanter, the owner and CEO of Dr. Comfort, a company that sells specialized shoes and inserts for diabetics, plead guilty to mail fraud and will pay a civil fine for improperly submitting claims for Medicare reimbursement. Although Medicare will reimburse certain diabetics for therapeutic footwear that conforms to specific standards, Kanter knowingly sold non-conforming shoe inserts to diabetic, Medicare patients and was reimbursed with Medicare money.
Kanter will serve a year and a day in federal prison for mail fraud and will pay a $27 million civil fine for his fraudulent submissions to Medicare. He is also barred from participating in any federal healthcare program for 15 years.
Two former Dr. Comfort employees will share $4.8 million of the civil recovery for uncovering Kanter’s fraudulent activity by filing a suit against Kanter under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.
For more information see: http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/130000898.html
