Pinellas County man admits to kickbacks in telemedicine scheme
July 15, 2020 - A Belleair Beach man who operated a durable medical equipment company is one of 26 people charged in a telemedicine fraud in Georgia. Patrick Wolfe pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in federal court in Georgia, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. He faces up to five years in prison and financial penalties, the news release said. Wolfe operated Wilmington Island Medical Inc., which does business as WI Medical Inc. The news release said he admitted paying kickbacks in return for “leads,” which were in actuality signed orders from physicians and nurse practitioners, and then billing those orders to Medicare using WI Medical. Also charged in the scheme were eight physicians, two nurse practitioners, three operators of different telemedicine companies, three brokers of patient data and several other owners of durable medical equipment companies, prosecutors said.