Federal Jury Finds Mother and Daughter Guilty of Medicare Fraud Scheme and Payment of Illegal Kickbacks

SAN DIEGO – A federal jury today convicted a mother and daughter from Melbourne, Florida, of multiple counts of health care fraud, payment of illegal kickbacks, and conspiracy to commit those offenses. The mother, Cindy Justice, was the owner and president of PureScience Rx, a pharmacy located in Poway. The daughter, Ashleigh Davis, was the operations manager at PureScience Rx and was a licensed pharmacy technician. Following an 11-day trial, a jury convicted the defendants of orchestrating a Medicare fraud scheme involving illegal kickbacks and medically unnecessary prescription drugs, largely tied to purported “footbath” treatments. Evidence showed the defendants paid marketers illegal commissions based on Medicare reimbursements in exchange for prescriptions generated through telehealth encounters that never involved legitimate medical examinations. The kickbacks were concealed through sham contracts and fabricated invoices falsely portraying the payments as hourly compensation.

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