Former NFL benchwarmer guilty of stealing $200M from Medicare and CHAMPVA

A former NFL player carried out a major years-long federal healthcare fraud scheme, in which he attempted to steal almost $200 million from Medicare and the veterans program CHAMPVA.

Joel Rufus French, known professionally as Rufus French, was found guilty of defrauding federal healthcare programs in the US by tricking elderly people and war veterans into accepting medical equipment they didn’t want or need.

The tight end was a rising star in college football, playing for the University of Mississippi.

However, French seemingly peaked in college, as he never actually played a regular-season game in the NFL despite brief contracts with the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers.

Pre-NFL injury likely inspired French’s scheme

Following his release from the Packers in 2002, French founded “R & L Marketing Group” and started eight durable medical equipment (DME) companies that were crucial in carrying out his scheme.

The DME companies would provide medical equipment like back braces, walkers, canes, and other orthotic devices.

The college football star apparently suffered a knee injury, causing him to miss the 2000 season.

French’s injury and his college football career likely gave him a highly developed understanding of DME devices, as these are used for injury prevention and rehabilitation, among other things.

Scammer targeted elderly people and amputees

Under French’s instructions, shady telemedicine call centers would persuade elderly Americans and war veterans to give over their personal information and health insurance data, as well as pressuring them into accepting DME products they didn’t need.

French targeted his victims specifically, singling out people who were extremely vulnerable, like those suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia, according to Forbes.

Even if targets were savvy enough to refuse the orthotic devices, court documents and evidence presented at trial show that these shady call centers would edit their recordings to make it seem like the victims agreed to receive the unnecessary medical equipment.

In some instances, claims for orthotic devices were submitted for dead people or amputees who had lost the limbs intended for the brace.

French exchanged cash for medical information

To make the claims look legitimate, these sham telemedicine companies would provide French with signed medical documents in exchange for a monetary bribe or kickback.

The documents were signed by doctors and nurses who had never met nor had any relationship with the victims.

These doctors’ orders were then sold to marketers and medical supply companies, which acted as middlemen between the scammers and Medicare.

Doctors’ orders are a form of medical data protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the unlawful transmission of this information for cash is illegal in itself.

The former college football standout also defrauded CHAMPVA, a federal healthcare program designed for partners and children of American veterans who had become disabled or died during service.

$10,000 handed over to personal data dealers

French charged Medicare and CHAMPVA for the unnecessary orthotic braces, which came directly from his eight DME supply companies.

However, French knew he had to obscure his role in the scheme, so he forged documents and organized straw owners who appeared to own and manage his companies.

The NFL shutout was also caught laundering around $225,000 in cash from a Mississippi bank.

A lump of this cash ($10,000) was stuffed in a bag and driven all the way to Orlando to pay co-conspirators and other criminals who sold him the victim’s personal information and insurance data.

Following a six-day jury trial, French was finally convicted and was ordered to spend over 16 years in federal prison and pay nearly $111,000,000 in damages.

French was supposedly “fueled by lies, bribes, and overseas telemarketers” while “this corrupt scheme preyed on senior citizens and disabled veterans to flood the country with unnecessary medical devices,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division.

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