San Diegans charged in health care fraud cases

A sprawling federal crackdown on health care fraud has resulted in charges against 345 people across the country, including a handful in San Diego, who are accused collectively of submitting more than $6 billion in false and fraudulent medical claims, the Department of Justice announced this week.

The enforcement action is comprised of numerous unrelated cases tackling similar fraudulent schemes, including more than $4.5 billion in telemedicine claims and more than $845 million connected to substance abuse treatment facilities, authorities said.

In San Diego, one of those cases alleges a scheme to bill for durable medical equipment that patients did not need.

According to the charges filed Tuesday, Charles Burruss and Ardalaan “Armani” Adams, both of San Diego, created a network of companies selling such equipment in the names of other people.

Telemarketers targeted Medicare recipients with fasttalking pitches, getting patients to agree to accept several products, prosecutors said. The full package was known as the “iron man kit” — back brace, neck brace, shoulder brace, two knee braces, two ankle braces and two wrist braces.

The marketing companies would then pay telemedicine doctors to write prescriptions for the equipment despite not examining the patients or in some cases without speaking to them, prosecutors said. And the medical equipment companies would in turn pay the marketers for the business.

The companies owned by Burruss and Adams submitted some $871 million in bills for the devices and ended up receiving more than $424 million, according to the charging document.

In another case, Anthony Bell Sr. of El Cajon and son Anthony Bell Jr. of Los Angeles, owners of Universal Medical Solutions, were indicted on accusations of paying kickbacks to doctors for brace referrals, according to court records.