Sarasota man indicted for alleged Medicare fraud

A Sarasota man faces a federal indictment for allegedly defrauding Medicare after recruiting patients to request cancer testing they didn’t need, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida said.

Robert Desselle, 46, of Sarasota, was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks. He was also charged with paying illegal health care kickbacks, according to a news release. 

Desselle’s case is part of a coordinated, two-week nationwide law enforcement action that resulted in 193 criminal indictments across the country, including nine in Florida’s Middle District.  

The alleged scheme charges that Desselle, through his company, Desselle’s Sky High Enterprise, LLC, paid marketers on a per-patient basis to recruit Medicare beneficiaries for cancer genetic testing (“CGx”) tests that were not medically necessary. 

Medicare paid approximately $4.5 million on CGx claims billed for these beneficiaries, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. 

The news release said the health care fraud and opioid abuse schemes in these 193 cases resulted in the submission of more than $2.75 billion in alleged false billings. Federal agents have also seized more than $231 million in cash, luxury vehicles, gold and other assets in these cases.      

Descriptions of each case involved in today’s enforcement action are available on the Justice Department’s website.