A Florida man pleaded guilty on Monday to purchasing Medicare identification numbers and using those numbers to cause over $8.4 million of false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare.
Corey Alston, 47, of Fort Lauderdale, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States and to illegally purchase Medicare beneficiary identification numbers in connection with a scheme to bill Medicare for COVID-19 test kits that were ineligible for reimbursement. According to court documents, Alston and his co-defendant, Latresia A. Wilson, conspired to unlawfully purchase Medicare beneficiary identification information (including Medicare Beneficiary Identification Numbers) and used that information to submit millions of dollars in claims to Medicare for COVID-19 test kits that the beneficiaries did not want or request.
Over the course of just seven months, from July 2022 through February 2023, Alston, Wilson, and others, through companies they owned and controlled, submitted over $8.4 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare that were ineligible for reimbursement. Medicare paid over $2.6 million based on the false and fraudulent claims. Alston personally earned over $2.3 million from the scheme.
Wilson previously pleaded guilty on June 10, 2024, to conspiracy to defraud the United States and to illegally purchase Medicare beneficiary identification. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15. Alston is scheduled to be sentenced on July 9. Alston and Wilson each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Matthew W. Fodor of the FBI Tampa Field Office; and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jesus Barranco of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.
The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Shane Butland and Keith Clouser and Senior Litigation Counsel Catherine Wagner of the National Rapid Response Strike Force of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. Acting Assistant Chief Justin Woodard assisted in charging the case.