Overview
- French, convicted in February, received a 196‑month prison term Friday, plus $111 million in restitution and roughly $17 million in forfeiture.
- Investigators said overseas call centers pressured seniors for personal data and even altered recordings to fake consent for orthotic braces.
- Sham telemedicine providers issued doctors’ orders without exams, which French then sold and used to bill Medicare and CHAMPVA through eight DME suppliers he secretly controlled with straw owners.
- Authorities documented about $225,000 in laundered cash, including a bag with more than $10,000 driven to Orlando to pay accomplices tied to the scheme.
- The Justice Department cast the sentence as part of a broader crackdown on durable medical equipment fraud that exploits seniors and families in VA programs such as CHAMPVA, which covers some spouses and children of disabled or deceased veterans.