$600,000 Yacht Seized As Tarpon Springs Man Admits To $42 Million Medicare Scam

A 47-foot yacht named “The Rogue Shark” and more than $1 million in cash now belong to the federal government after a Tarpon Springs man admitted to running a massive $42 million health care and pandemic loan scam.

Chad Monroe, 48, stood in federal court today and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. Prosecutors laid out how Monroe built a network of shell companies to bill Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans, and TRICARE for millions of dollars in medical braces and cancer genetic tests that patients never asked for and didn’t need.

The operation relied on three medical supply companies Monroe helped launch: Maksix Medical Products Inc., Orthotech Atlanta LLC, and 1st Choice Medical Supply LLC. Knowing his name on the paperwork would raise red flags, Monroe ordered his partners to lie on Medicare enrollment forms to disguise his ownership.

From there, the group billed federal health programs more than $26 million for unnecessary knee, wrist, ankle, and back braces. To make the paperwork look legitimate, Monroe paid illegal kickbacks to sham telemedicine companies in exchange for signed doctors’ orders. He ran a similar playbook with cancer genetic testing, using another company he controlled, Health and Life Networking LLC, to sell doctors’ orders to partner laboratories for more than $15 million in kickbacks.

When the pandemic hit, Monroe tapped into COVID-19 relief funds as well. Court records show he instructed a co-conspirator to submit a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan application for more than $30,000, once again lying about who actually owned 1st Choice Medical Supply LLC.

The stolen money funded a high-end lifestyle. Aside from the $600,000 yacht, Monroe used the proceeds to buy a Cadillac Escalade and other luxury vehicles.

Monroe has not yet been scheduled for sentencing. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison for the health care fraud conspiracy charge and a maximum of 30 years for wire fraud. A federal judge will weigh U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors before handing down his final punishment.

Agents from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, the FBI’s Tampa office, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and IRS Criminal Investigation unraveled the scheme. The case is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, a unit launched on April 7 to back President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which is chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance.

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Years ago I had a NP that I would visit just for a checkup. Her office would bill for the visit and all kinds of procedures that I never received during my visit. When I got me EOB from insurance I saw that and notified the insurance company. She was running a small scam and was sentenced to 1 yr in jail and 3 yrs probation and had to reimburse the insurance. You never can tell about some people.

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