U.K. Citizen Indicted for $2.7M Telehealth Scheme

A federal grand jury in the Middle District of Florida returned an indictment Wednesday charging a U.K. citizen for his role in a conspiracy to submit fraudulent claims for telehealth services associated with prescriptions for genetic testing and for causing the submission of false Medicare enrollment documents. According to the indictment, Marek Rex Vernon Harrison, 61, a U.K. citizen living in Plant City, Florida, was the true beneficial owner and manager of purported telemedicine company CTD Network LLC (CTD). As alleged, CTD employed medical providers to authorize prescriptions for genetic tests, including tests designed to assess cancer risk. The providers conducted purported telehealth consultations in which they approved genetic-testing orders for Medicare beneficiaries referred by marketing companies or laboratories, even though the providers had no prior relationship with the beneficiaries and did not treat them or use the test results for treatment. At Harrison’s direction, CTD allegedly billed Medicare for these telehealth services, which were medically unnecessary and/or not provided as billed. In total, CTD submitted more than $2.7 million in false and fraudulent claims for telehealth services to Medicare, and Medicare paid over $600,000 on those claims.

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