In a major healthcare fraud case, the United States Attorney's Office announced that 61-year-old Raju Sharma, owner of Pharmagears, LLC, and RR Medco, LLC, has agreed to plead guilty in a scheme that defrauded Medicare of nearly $30 million. The fraud involved durable medical equipment (DME) such as orthotics, which were billed as being medically necessary but were often unwanted or unusable by the beneficiaries. Sharma, from Sharon, Massachusetts, could face up to 10 years in prison and more than $15.8 million in restitution as per the plea deal, an announcement by federal authorities indicated.
The chain of fraudulent activities spanned from February 2021 to February 2025, with Sharma allegedly engaging telemarketing companies to target Medicare beneficiaries to generate orders for DME, which were then billed to Medicare. In a classic case of deception, these medical devices were either not required by the patients, or were prescribed without a practitioner having met with the patient, or worse, ordered through the misuse of practitioners' identifiers without their consent. Moreover, Sharma's dealings with the marketing companies violated anti-kickback statutes, by compensating them per lead instead of a flat service fee, as claimed in the official announcement.
Authorities revealed that Sharma's profitable scheme went beyond his immediate operations, involving family and acquaintances to establish and run additional DME companies under the same fraudulent pattern. Collectively, these companies charged Medicare about $29.6 million for these fabricated orders. Sharma's illicit gains were significant, enabling him to acquire luxury items including two Ferraris, a Mercedes-Benz Model S, and at least three Rolex watches. As part of the plea agreement, Sharma has consented to forfeit these items, along with over $250,000 in cash that was seized from his bank accounts. United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, along with officials from the HHS-OIG and FBI, made the announcement, noting that the case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren Graber and Sarah Hoefle.
While the charges against Sharma carry a substantial penalty of up to 10 years behind bars, supervised release for up to three years, and a fine of up to twice the gross gain or loss, or $250,000, whichever is more – the final decision will be in the hands of a federal district court judge. Sentencing recommendations are based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines along with statutes that influence these decisions, as highlighted in the press release. It is crucial to remember that these details are allegations, and Sharma is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The plea hearing is yet to be scheduled.
