Durable Medical Equipment Company Owner Sentenced for Medicare Fraud

A Texas man who owned two Houston-area durable medical equipment companies must serve five years and three months in prison and pay $1.96 million in restitution for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Huey Williams Jr., 46, of Katy, Texas, who operated Hermann Medical Supplies and Hermann Medical Supplies II from December 2006 through July 2010, was sentenced Nov. 20 by Judge Melinda Harmon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

In March, Williams was convicted of one count of healthcare fraud during a jury trial, after evidence showed he oversaw a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting $3.4 million in false and fraudulent DME claims, according to the Justice Department.

Medicare paid Hermann Medical $1.96 million on the claims.

Specifically, Williams caused Hermann Medical to bill Medicare for components of an “arthritis kit,” which included expensive, rigid braces and orthotics with adjustable joints that required fitting and adjustment.

In reality, he provided beneficiaries with inexpensive, flimsy neoprene braces and equipment — to the extent he provided any equipment at all.

News of sentencing comes shortly after the conviction of Valery Bogomolny, owner of Royal Medical Supply.

Bogomolny was convicted Nov. 6 of healthcare fraud in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California after receiving $2.7 million related to false claims for power wheelchairs, back braces and knee braces (IDDM, Nov. 13).

He is scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 29, 2016, before Judge James Otero. — Jonathon Shacat