Dec. 22 (UPI) -- The former CEO of a healthcare software company in Arizona was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $452 million in restitution for conspiring to defraud Medicare for $1 billion, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday.
Gary Cox, 79, of Maricopa County, was found guilty in June of healthcare fraud in which he generated false doctors' orders to support fraudulent claims for various medical items.
He was sentenced Friday in the Southern District of Florida.
"This just sentence is the result of one of the largest telemarketing Medicare fraud cases ever tried to verdict," Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said in a statement. "Telemedicine scammers who use junk mailers, spam calls and the internet to target senior citizens steal taxpayer money and harm vulnerable populations. The Criminal Division will continue dedicating substantial resources to the fight against telemedicine and medical equipment frauds that drain our health care benefit programs."
Cox was convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, three counts of healthcare fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks, and conspiracy to defraud the United States and make false statements in connection with healthcare matters.
