A Geneva, Ill., man has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty in connection with an alleged fraud scheme to defraud Medicare of over $2 million by submitting claims for durable medical equipment (DME) that was medically unnecessary, not wanted by the Medicare beneficiaries and tainted by kickbacks. Kartik Bhatia, 36, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and one count of making false statements. According to the charging documents, Bhatia allegedly worked with Raju Sharma, and other co-conspirators to own and operate a DME company that paid telemarketing companies for DME orders for orthotics such as ankle, wrist, knee and back braces. Often, the Medicare beneficiaries did not need or want the braces the defendants shipped them and, as further alleged in the information, the doctors whose signatures appeared on these DME orders often did not treat these beneficiaries and did not prescribe the DME. After the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a payment suspension to Bhatia’s DME company, Bhatia simply opened a new DME company that engaged in the same conduct. Bhatia has agreed to plead guilty to healthcare fraud conspiracy for his alleged role in the scheme as well as false statements in connection with a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement and representation that he made to law enforcement during the investigation.