A Florida nursing assistant was sentenced yesterday to nine years in prison and two years of supervised release for his role in an $11.4 million health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy in which hundreds of Medicare beneficiaries were sent thousands of orthotic braces they did not need. Cruz was also ordered to pay $3,712,345.70 in restitution and $724,871 in forfeiture.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Christian “Chris” Cruz, 45, of Pompano Beach, Florida, owned and operated a durable medical equipment (DME) supplier based in Florida through which he submitted millions of dollars in false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary orthotic braces.
Cruz and his co-conspirator paid illegal kickbacks and bribes to obtain signed doctors’ orders. They used these orders to ship orthotic braces to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide and then claim payment from…
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