A Florida laboratory owner has pleaded guilty to a Medicare fraud scheme totaling more than $52 million. According to court documents, 38-year-old Sean Alterman admitted to submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, primarily for unnecessary genetic testing. The U.S. Department of Justice reported that Alterman obtained prescriptions through illegal kickbacks and bribes.
The fraud involved Alterman’s two companies, Live Beyond Medical MGMT, LLC, and Dynix Diagnostics LLC. To inflate medical billing, the defendants used tactics that bypassed standard procedures, misleading physicians and Medicare beneficiaries into authorizing unnecessary tests. Deceptive telemarketing efforts were also used to convince beneficiaries to undergo unneeded genetic testing, providing a basis for the false claims.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida emphasized the severity of the case, stating that Alterman’s actions—purchasing prescriptions, running deceptive telemarketing campaigns, and billing millions for unnecessary tests—constituted theft from patients and taxpayers. He noted that such conduct will face aggressive prosecution, forfeiture, and prison time.
Federal prosecutors report that Medicare paid roughly $36 million of the $52 million in fraudulent claims, resulting in Alterman personally receiving about $5.5 million. Much of these funds were routed through shell companies he controlled. Under his plea agreement, Alterman is required to forfeit significant assets obtained through the scheme, including a Lake Worth estate and a 2022 Rolls Royce Ghost.
The case against Alterman is being handled by the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, with support from the FBI and the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG). Sentencing is scheduled for April 16, with Alterman facing up to 15 years in prison. The prosecution is led by Trial Attorneys Reginald Cuyler Jr. and Aisha Schafer Hylton of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section, while asset forfeiture is managed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadya Cheatham for the Southern District of Florida. The case is part of the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, which since March 2007 has charged thousands of defendants responsible for more than $30 billion in fraudulent billing to federal health programs and private insurers.
