A Chicago man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for his role in a $365 million Medicare fraud scheme involving sham telemedicine companies, unnecessary orthopaedic brace prescriptions and offshore call centres.
Herbert Leon Kimble, 60, was also ordered to forfeit more than $195 million in money and property and pay more than $199 million in restitution to the Medicare programme.
Medicare fraud scheme used fake medical consultations
Prosecutors said Kimble helped recruit vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries through deceptive marketing before selling their personal information and signed doctors’ orders to durable medical equipment companies.
The medical professionals involved allegedly carried out little or no genuine consultation, instead signing pre-selected prescriptions for braces so suppliers could submit claims for reimbursement.
Kimble operated as a central figure from the Philippines, arranging the supply of patients and prescriptions to companies that collectively submitted more than $365 million in fraudulent claims. Medicare reimbursed more than $199 million, according to the US Department of Justice.
Officials said Kimble personally made more than $195 million from the scheme and used some of the proceeds to buy a luxury condominium at the Shangri-La hotel in the Philippines.
He first pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to defraud the United States. But after failing to attend several court hearings in 2024, a federal judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
Kimble was subsequently placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters list and captured in the Philippines. He was returned to the United States, where he faced three additional charges of failing to appear before entering a new plea agreement covering both the original fraud case and the later charges.
US District Judge Joseph F Anderson Jr sentenced Kimble to 240 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal prison system.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General and the IRS’s criminal investigation division.
