Two South Florida men have been indicted on federal charges for allegedly orchestrating a $34.8 million scheme to defraud Medicare by billing for medically unnecessary equipment, the Justice Department said.

Kenneth Charles Kessler III, 42, of Miami-Dade County, and Michael Andrew Gomez, 42, of Broward County, are accused of operating seven durable medical equipment companies that submitted false claims for orthotic braces, continuous glucose monitors and other products.

Prosecutors say the pair paid illegal kickbacks to marketing companies that used deceptive telemarketing to target thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, then arranged for telemedicine providers to generate fraudulent doctors’ orders.

“The defendants are alleged to have perpetuated a scheme that involved the submission of

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