A Mississippi businessman pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme to defraud Medicare by paying kickbacks for fraudulent doctors’ orders and then using those orders to bill the government insurer over $19 million through seven different durable medical equipment (DME) supply companies. According to court documents, Willie De Gibbs, 53, of Toomsuba, Mississippi, and Cutler Bay, Florida, was the sole owner of three DME supply companies and was the beneficial owner of and controlled, sometimes through straw owners, four other DME supply companies. He sought to defraud Medicare by submitting fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary orthotic braces for beneficiaries that did not request or need them.