Dallas, TX – A Texas podiatrist and a patient recruiter have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms and ordered to pay over $7 million in restitution for their involvement in a fraudulent scheme to bill TRICARE, the U.S. health care program for service members and their families, for medically unnecessary compounded creams.
Brian Carpenter, 58, a podiatrist from Paradise, Texas, was sentenced to 45 months in prison, while Jerry Lee Hawrylak, 71, a patient recruiter from Lake Worth, Texas, was sentenced to 60 months in prison. The two were convicted of conspiring to defraud TRICARE by submitting fraudulent claims for pain and scar creams that were not only medically unnecessary but were procured through bribes and kickbacks.
The scheme, which ran from November 2014 to January 2017, involved Carpenter signing prescriptions for compounded creams for TRICARE beneficiaries he never examined or treated. Carpenter, who operated out of his office in Bridgeport, Texas, signed standing orders for the prescriptions without ever consulting the patients, and many of the orders were backdated to allow a pharmacy in Fort Worth to alter the prescriptions to maximize reimbursement from TRICARE. The fraudulent prescriptions were set up with fake patient addresses and authorized unlimited refills.
The case highlights the growing issue of health care fraud targeting government programs designed to support military families and veterans. TRICARE, which provides health care benefits to more than 9 million service members, retirees, and their families, was defrauded of millions of dollars due to this scheme.
Both Carpenter and Hawrylak were convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud. In addition to their prison sentences, they have been ordered to pay restitution totaling over $7 million to TRICARE.
“This case demonstrates our commitment to holding individuals accountable for exploiting vulnerable programs designed to support those who serve our country,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Leigha Simonton. “The defendants took advantage of the trust placed in them and used their positions to defraud TRICARE and steal from taxpayers.”
Both defendants will begin serving their sentences in the coming weeks. The case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the FBI, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
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