Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@illest_shinobi" rel="nofollow">Richard Catabay</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=hostinger&utm_medium=referral" rel="nofollow">Unsplash</a>
Tampa, FL – A man from Florida was sentenced today to almost five years in federal prison for masterminding a large-scale genetic testing fraud scheme that cheated Medicare out of millions through kickbacks and misleading marketing strategies.
Robert Desselle, 47, was handed a 57-month prison sentence for conspiring to defraud the United States and for paying and receiving healthcare kickbacks. He had previously entered a guilty plea to these charges in February 2025.
Along with his prison sentence, Desselle was ordered to pay $4.5 million in restitution and forfeit $2.1 million in illegal gains obtained from the fraud.
Court documents reveal that from June 2018 to December 2020, Desselle and his accomplices targeted at-risk Medicare beneficiaries, persuading them to undergo unnecessary genetic tests. Desselle employed unlicensed marketers to recruit patients in public venues like grocery stores, pharmacies, and car dealerships, utilizing deceptive tactics to promote the tests.
He then bribed a telemedicine company to issue fraudulent doctors’ orders for the tests, which were later sent to clinical laboratories. These labs provided kickbacks to Desselle and others in return for patient referrals.
The fraudulent scheme resulted in $11.5 million in claims submitted to Medicare, with $4.5 million actually disbursed. Desselle personally profited over $2.1 million from this scam.
