National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results In 324 Defendants Charged In Connection With Over $14.6 Billion In Alleged Fraud
www.justice.gov, June 30, 2025
Tampa, Florida – The Justice Department today announced the results of its 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, which resulted in criminal charges against 324 defendants, including 96 doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and other licensed medical professionals, in 50 federal districts and 12 State Attorneys General’s Offices across the United States, for their alleged participation in various health care fraud schemes involving over $14.6 billion in intended loss. The Takedown involved federal and state law enforcement agencies across the country and represents an unprecedented effort to combat health care fraud schemes that exploit patients and taxpayers.
“This record-setting Health Care Fraud Takedown delivers justice to criminal actors who prey upon our most vulnerable citizens and steal from hardworking American taxpayers,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Make no mistake – this administration will not tolerate criminals who line their pockets with taxpayer dollars while endangering the health and safety of our communities.”
In the Middle District of Florida, United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the filing of criminal charges in 13 cases involving 19 individuals in connection with alleged schemes to defraud programs entrusted for the care of the elderly and disabled, and to obtain controlled substances through fraud.
The following individuals have been charged in Middle District of Florida:
William Balsamo (65, Spring Hill) was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks in connection with a scheme to provide doctors’ orders to pharmacies, durable medical equipment (“DME”) companies, and laboratories in exchange for kickbacks, which led to at least $9 million in losses to Medicare. As alleged in the information, Balsamo was the Chief Financial Officer of Call MD Plus, a telemedicine company that purported to offer software that enabled pharmacies, DME companies, and laboratories to connect their patients with telemedicine doctors who performed consultations. Call MD Plus allegedly obtained signed doctors’ orders by paying kickbacks to companies that had relationships with telemedicine doctors, and then sold the orders to the pharmacies, DMEs, and laboratories (sometimes through intermediary marketers and resellers), in exchange for kickbacks. The orders were then used to bill for medically unnecessary prescriptions and other items. The case is being prosecuted by Acting Assistant Chief Gary A. Winters of the National Rapid Response Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Mesrobian.
Edward Cannatelli (60, Parkland), Robbyn Cannatelli (68, Parkland), Thomas Farese (82, Fort Lauderdale), and Virginia Lockett (55, Margate) were charged for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, make false statements relating to health care matters, and offer and pay illegal kickbacks and bribes. They are also charged in a second conspiracy to commit wire and health care fraud and with related substantive counts concerning the falsification of records in the federal investigation leading to the indictment. The four charged, along with other conspirators, generated medically unnecessary physicians’ orders via a telemarketing operation for DME. Through the telemarketing operation, federal health care program beneficiaries’ personal identifying information and other health-related information was harvested to begin forming DME brace orders. The information related to the emerging brace orders was then transmitted to purported “telemedicine” vendors that, in exchange for a fee, paid illegal kickbacks and bribes to physicians who signed the orders, often without ever contacting the beneficiaries to conduct the required telehealth consultations. The fraudulent brace orders were then returned to the conspirators, who used the orders as support for bogus DME claims submitted to Medicare. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jay G. Trezevant and Tiffany E. Fields.
Greisys Cuellar Hernandez (41, Tampa) was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for contributing to the filing of fraudulent insurance claims for staged traffic crashes resulting in multiple payouts by insurance companies to a physical rehabilitation clinic in Tampa. Cuellar Hernandez worked at the clinic and was involved in recruiting individuals to seek treatment after staging traffic crashes. Cuellar Hernandez was paid approximately $52,000 for her role in the conspiracy. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany E. Fields.
Alexis Del Sol Perez (48, Spring Hill) and Carlos Del Sol (30, Tampa) were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their roles in submitting fraudulent insurance claims for staged traffic crashes. Del Sol was also charged with wire fraud for causing the transmission of fraudulently obtained insurance funds. Del Sol Perez was the owner of a physical rehabilitation clinic in Tampa and recruited individuals to participate in staged traffic crashes and seek medical attention at his clinic. Del Sol worked at the clinic and assisted patients from staged car accidents with completing insurance paperwork containing false statements. Additionally, Del Sol was responsible for making cash payouts to individuals involved in the staged traffic crashes. As a result of this scheme, the defendants and co-conspirators obtained at least $4.7 million in fraudulently obtained proceeds from the offenses. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany E. Fields.
Patrick Michael Flint (43, Coconut Creek) pleaded guilty to conspiring to solicit and receive kickbacks for referring Medicare beneficiaries for COVID-19 tests and to purchase and sell Medicare beneficiary identification numbers. According to court documents, Flint obtained identifying information from Medicare beneficiaries for the purpose of sending them COVID-19 tests that they had not otherwise requested. He then sold the identifying information to medical providers for the purpose of shipping the COVID-19 tests to the beneficiaries and billing Medicare for the tests. Flint’s actions caused the submission of approximately 84,600 fraudulent claims to Medicare, which resulted in reimbursements totaling approximately $7.9 million. As part of his plea, Flint agreed to forfeit to the government a total of $1,266,025 of proceeds that he obtained during the scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier.
Michelle Forsythe (61, Ocala) was charged with 14 counts of wire fraud and 1 count of aggravated identity theft in connection with using the names and insurance policy information of 22 individuals without their knowledge or consent to overbill health insurance companies. The fraudulent overbillings resulted in a loss of at least $483,000. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hannah Watson.
Leo Joseph Govoni (67, Clearwater) and John Leo Witeck (60, Tampa) were charged by indictment for their roles in a conspiracy to solicit, steal, and misappropriate beneficiary funds from clients of the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration (CSNT). CSNT was a non-profit that managed funds for individuals with disabilities and other special needs, including those who received court awards, settlements, and other payments. As of February 2024, the indictment alleges, CSNT managed more than 2,100 special needs trusts containing approximately $200 million. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Peresie and Trial Attorney Lyndie Freeman of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Lauren Hornbuckle (36, Seminole) was charged with one count of tampering with a consumer product in connection with her unlawfully acquiring and tampering with morphine at a hospital. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Pizzo.
Paula Pirone (68, Ocala) and Sophie Dufort (56, Gainesville) were charged with various counts of conspiracy, health care fraud, and paying kickbacks in connection with an alleged scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare over $8.6 million for medically unnecessary orthotic braces. According to the indictment, Pirone and Dufort owned and operated DME companies that offered and paid illegal kickbacks to their co-conspirators in exchange for signed doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary DME that were then billed to Medicare. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jody King of the Florida Strike Force.
Ricardo Ramos (49, Tampa) was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering for his role in conducting financial transactions involving proceeds of mail fraud. Ramos was a chiropractor at a physical rehabilitation clinic in Tampa. His co-conspirators recruited individuals to stage traffic accidents, file false police reports related to the staged traffic crashes, and then seek treatment at the clinic where Ramos worked. Ramos performed evaluations on the recruited individuals and directed them to report high levels of pain in order to diagnose purported injuries and prescribe future treatments. In some instances, no evaluations were performed and Ramos still generated diagnoses to facilitate the filing of fraudulent insurance claims. Ramos also completed medical forms with prescriptions for DME based on the fake injuries. These false claims were submitted to insurance companies and resulted in the insurance companies sending payments to the clinic where Ramos worked. These funds were then used to compensate Ramos and the recruited individuals for their roles in the scheme. As a result of the conspiracy, Ramos obtained approximately $169,000. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany E. Fields.
Chad Monroe (47,Tarpon Springs) was charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and mail fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and to offer, pay, solicit, and receive health care kickbacks, violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare, Medicare Advantage Plans, and TRICARE for more than $28 million for orthotic braces and to receive approximately $15 million in illegal kickbacks and bribes related to genetic testing. As alleged in the indictment, Monroe owned several DME companies that purchased doctors’ orders for braces. Monroe was also a marketer who generated and sold doctors’ orders for genetic testing. He also is charged for submitting a false Economic Injury Disaster loan application and aiding and abetting in the submission of a false Paycheck Protection Program loan. Previously, a boat purchased for over $600,000 and more than $1 million from an investment account were seized. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Catherine Wagner and Trial Attorney D. Keith Clouser of the National Rapid Response Strike Force.
Anagha Onuoha a/k/a “Frank Emeka,” (61, St. Petersburg) was charged for making a false statement in a passport application and theft of government funds. According to the indictment, Onuoha, a Nigerian citizen living in the United States, obtained two Social Security numbers by fraudulently claiming to be a United States citizen. Using these Social Security numbers, Onuoha applied for, and received, benefits from the United States to which he was not entitled. As part of his scheme, Onuoha obtained more than $2.2 million in Social Security Disability Insurance benefits and Medicare benefits. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Schmidt and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Del Mastro.
Eric Strom Holland (55, Fort Myers) was charged with wire fraud and distributing and dispensing controlled substances in connection with an alleged scheme to deceive doctors into writing controlled substance prescriptions based on false pretenses. As alleged in the complaint, Holland recruited unwitting doctors for his all-virtual pain clinic using a series of lies designed to induce them to work for him and to prescribe controlled substances, including oxycodone. These lies included that the pain clinic had a physical location (when in fact all operations during the pertinent periods were purely virtual), that patients were being physically examined by medical practitioners, such as nurse practitioners, before doctors were asked to prescribe, that there were long-term doctors with whom the patients had a standing relationship and that the temporary doctors were just refilling prescriptions as part of an established regimen of care, and that safeguards to prevent against drug abuse, such as urine screens, were being used. Holland’s scheme resulted in the improper dispensing of more than 103,000 oxycodone pills. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin S. Winter.
An information or indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
The MDFL has worked with the Department’s Criminal Division and the following law enforcement organizations to investigate and prosecute these cases, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Social Security Administration - Office of the Inspector General, and Homeland Security Investigations.