Two individuals have been given a prison sentence concerning a $8.5M TRICARE fraud scheme.
Brian Carpenter and Jerry Lee Hawrylak, both from Texas, are the focus of an investigation into the million-dollar sums they received for defrauding the government healthcare framework.
The court report said both work as podiatrists and patient recruiters and have been sentenced, as part of a court action, to “45 months and 60 months in prison, respectively, and ordered to pay over $7 million in restitution. ”
Podiatrists and patient recruiters given jail terms and $7m bill
TRICARE is the military and service personal option for healthcare providers, and the framework can be billed for many of the medical needs of serving patients and their families.
The investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG) found that Carpenter and Hawrylak were billing TRICARE for compounded creams that were medically unnecessary and procured through kickbacks and bribes.
Carpenter reportedly “signed prescriptions for compounded pain and scar creams for TRICARE beneficiaries to whom he never spoke and whom he never examined or treated.”
Hawrylak allegedly conscripted Carpenter to sign these prescriptions and recruited TRICARE beneficiaries to accept the medically unnecessary creams. These prescriptions signed by Carpenter were found to have been “standing orders” that could be backdated so the pair could benefit from the maximum amount for TRICARE billing.
From November 2014 to January 2017, the orders were also marked as “unlimited refills and listed fake addresses for beneficiaries.”
The pair and the recruited TRICARE patients allegedly cost the Fort Worth-based pharmacy approximately $8.5 million for these creams.
Their sentencing follows the April 2024 case, (Assistant Chief Brynn Schiess and Trial Attorney Andrea Savdie of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case) that convicted the pair for defrauding the United States government and the framework intended to support serving members of the defense agencies that protect the nation’s interests.
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