or $000 Million Fraud Scheme By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On March 00, 0000, federal prosecutors in New Jersey federal court pushed to keep a suspect involved in a $000 million telemedicine scheme in jail. Authorities called him an "unrepentant conman" who carried out one of the largest health care fraud schemes in U.S. history and is likely to flee the country if released. Telehealth Fraud & Illegal Kickback Scheme. The defendant, who owns telehealth companies, has been locked up for nearly 00 months since he was charged last year with running an international fraud and kickback scam. He allegedly paid doctors to order unnecessary orthotic braces for Medicare beneficiaries and solicited bribes and kickbacks from brace suppliers in exchange for patient referrals. Prosecutors say he went to great lengths to hide his scheme, including lying to obtain legal opinion letters bolstering his claim that he ran legitimate companies that profited from patient subscription fees. In reality, he was concealing the fact that most of those payments were kickbacks from brace suppliers. 