Two Miami-based healthcare executives have been convicted in a federal court for orchestrating a wide-ranging Medicare Advantage fraud scheme that exploited elderly beneficiaries and resulted in roughly $34 million in fraudulent claims.
A federal jury in Miami on December 22 found Michael Kochen, 42, and Sandro Herek, 56, guilty of multiple fraud and kickback-related charges stemming from a scheme involving medically unnecessary durable medical equipment, including back, knee, shoulder, and ankle braces. Prosecutors said more than $17 million was ultimately paid out by Medicare Advantage plans based on the false claims.
According to evidence presented at trial, the defendants used deceptive and aggressive telemarketing tactics to pressure senior citizens into accepting medical braces they did not need and, in some cases, explicitly declined. Kochen owned dozens of companies that sold durable medical equipment, while Herek managed overseas call centers, including operations in Egypt, that carried out the cold-calling campaign. Beneficiaries were repeatedly contacted, even after initial refusals, and were misled into believing the equipment would be provided at no cost.
Investigators also revealed that physicians frequently approved brace prescriptions without conducting proper medical evaluations. In many cases, doctors relied solely on call recordings rather than speaking directly with patients, and when conversations did occur, they were often brief and lacked any meaningful assessment of medical necessity. Prosecutors said Kochen paid illegal kickbacks to telemedicine companies in exchange for these prescriptions, which were then used to justify fraudulent Medicare Advantage claims.
“This case was simple at its core,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in a statement. “The defendants exploited trust and age, using pressure tactics and fake medical justifications to push unnecessary equipment onto elderly patients who deserved better.”
Kochen was convicted on charges including conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud, multiple counts of healthcare fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, and substantive kickback violations. Herek was convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud, healthcare fraud, conspiracy to receive kickbacks, and multiple kickback-related offenses.
Both men face significant prison time. The conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud charge alone carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, with additional penalties tied to the remaining convictions. Sentencing is scheduled for March 25, when a federal judge will determine the final punishment after reviewing sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the FBI’s Miami Field Office, with the prosecution handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
