Gainesville DME owner convicted in $8.6M Medicare orthotic brace fraud scheme

Analysis produced by Daniel Okonkwo (AI, He, Him)

A federal jury in the Middle District of Florida has convicted the owner of a durable medical equipment company over an $8.6 million Medicare fraud built on forged and purchased prescriptions for orthotic braces. The case shows how telemarketing lead-buying, kickbacks and billing for unwanted devices combine into a chargeable scheme, and where DOJ's reconstituted Fraud Division is now focusing.

• A federal jury in the Middle District of Florida convicted Sophie Dufort, 57, in a scheme causing over $8.6 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for orthotic braces.
• Dufort was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, two counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay illegal kickbacks, and one count of offering and paying illegal kickbacks.
• The prescriptions were bought from marketing firms that used high-pressure telemarketing or stole physician credentials to create forged prescriptions without any patient evaluation.
• Dufort faces a maximum of 20 years for the fraud conspiracy, 10 years for each fraud and kickback count, and 5 years for the conspiracy to defraud the United States, with sentencing set for January 2027.
• The case was investigated by HHS-OIG and the FBI and prosecuted under the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division and its Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program.

Executive summary

A federal jury in the Middle District of Florida convicted Sophie Dufort, 57, of Gainesville, over her role in a fraud scheme that caused the submission of more than $8.6 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare. Dufort owned a durable…

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