Kenric Wakeen Griffin of New Horizons Durable Medical Equipment was ordered to pay $5,114,016.19 in restitution to government health care programs, a news release said. A jury convicted Griffin of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks, as well as seven counts of payment and receipt of kickbacks.
According to authorities, Griffin obtained patients by offering and paying kickbacks to marketers as well as disguising illegal payments as marketing services and outsourced business services. Griffin then submitted false claims to both Medicaid and Medicare for orthopedic equipment that was never provided, not medically necessary, and not authorized by a physician, the attorney general said.
The investigation was conducted by Sergeant Doug Wood, Investigative Auditor Jennifer Blakely, and Captain Justin Boyce of the Texas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by the Department of Justice Health Care Fraud Strike Force.