Ex-NFL player gets 16 years in prison for scheme targeting veterans, elderly
French was ordered to pay more than $110 million in restitution after prosecutors said he used sham orders and hidden ownership to bill Medicare and CHAMPVA.
- Former Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers player Joel Rufus French received a 16-year prison sentence for orchestrating a yearslong scheme that defrauded Medicare and Veterans Affairs of $200 million.
- Operating eight DME companies with straw owners to conceal his involvement, French collaborated with overseas telemarketing call centers that pressured elderly patients into accepting unwanted orthotic braces.
- Court documents show French laundered approximately $225,000 from a Mississippi bank, placing over $10,000 in a bag driven to Orlando to pay accomplices for beneficiary data, and paid kickbacks to telemedicine companies for sham doctors' orders.
- French was ordered to pay $110,753,619 in restitution and forfeit approximately $17 million in assets the government seized from bank accounts, in addition to his 16-year prison sentence.
- Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert said the defendant "preyed on elderly patients and the families of disabled and deceased veterans," emphasizing HHS and OIG commitment to safeguarding taxpayer-funded programs.
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24 Articles
A former professional football player was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for orchestrating a massive scheme of fraud against Medicare and the veteran health program. Joel Rufus French, 47, who played for the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers, was sentenced on Thursday to 16 years and 4 months in federal prison. In addition, he will pay more than $110.7 million in restitution and lost about $17 million in confiscated goods. A …
Former NFL Player Sentenced to Prison for $197M Medicare Fraud
Photo credit: depositphotos.com The Department of Justice announced that former NFL player Joel Rufus French, 47, was sentenced to 16+ years in prison and ordered to pay $110,753,619 in restitution after a years-long scheme to bilk Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) out of nearly $200 million. He also forfeited approximately $17 million that the government seized from bank account…
Former NFL player sentenced to more than 16 years in jail for nearly $200M of Medicare fraud: DOJ
Prosecutors said the defendant, Joel Rufus French, 47, of Armory, Mississippi, sold patient information and fraudulent doctors’ orders for orthotic braces that patients neither wanted nor needed.
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