A 79-year-old Wellington man has admitted in federal court in Pennsylvania that he helped run a health care fraud scheme built around medically unnecessary "foot baths" that were billed to insurers, and he has agreed to give up a Wellington commercial property worth roughly $4 million. The guilty plea, entered Friday before Senior U.S. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion, resolves a federal case in which investigators say Suess and his partners routed expensive prescription drugs through pharmacies they secretly controlled. Prosecutors say the scheme ran in 2019 and 2020 and generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit profits. Suess faces up to 10 years in prison on each count.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Frank Suess, also known as Franz P. Suess, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute. Prosecutors say Suess used a company called Medivalue Florida LLC to finance and quietly control pharmacies that filled mail-order prescriptions tied to the supposed foot-bath therapy. The operation allegedly steered high-cost drug orders to pharmacies selected for their billing histories and the likelihood that insurers would pay.
As reported by the Tampa Free Press, Suess agreed as part of the plea deal to forfeit a Wellington commercial building estimated at about $4 million. Tampa Free Press reports that the fraud brought in more than $700,000 in profits from a private insurance fund and led to additional claims submitted to Medicare and other plans. Investigators also say many people who received the kits complained that they had never seen a podiatrist and were "scared of the box" that appeared on their doorsteps.
How the 'foot baths' worked
Prosecutors say the kits were marketed as antibiotic and antifungal foot soaks but actually contained high-cost prescription drugs, including vancomycin capsules, tobramycin vials, moxifloxacin eye drops and ketoconazole cream, none of which are approved for use as ingredients in a topical foot bath. The U.S. Attorney's Office states that patients were instructed to break open capsules or empty vials into warm water, an unapproved and potentially unsafe way to use the medicines that also happened to drive up insurance bills. In some instances, the government says, insurers were charged tens of thousands of dollars for a single month's supply of the drugs packed into these kits.
Kickbacks, health fairs and concealment
According to prosecutors, the scheme leaned on preprinted, pre-checked order forms collected at health fairs in the New York area and through third-party recruiters. Those forms allowed the operation to set up automatic refills without any follow-up examination or real patient relationship. The forms were then funneled to pharmacies that Suess and his co-defendants allegedly controlled behind the scenes.
The indictment alleges that the group used a so-called marketing services agreement to disguise illegal referral payments as consulting fees, paying recruiters and providers cash or kickbacks in exchange for signed order forms. When insurers started to question unusual billing patterns, prosecutors say, the defendants shifted prescriptions among the pharmacies they controlled in an effort to keep payments flowing.
What's next
Suess now awaits federal sentencing, and a date has not yet been set. Four co-defendants, identified in court records as Luis Salgado, Melissa Driscoll, Victor Velazco and Dave Singh, are still awaiting trial, while two others have already pleaded guilty in connection with the same investigation. The case was handled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and prosecutors say the court could still order restitution, additional forfeiture and fines once sentencing rolls around.
Legal implications
The crimes Suess admitted to carry statutory maximum penalties of up to 10 years in prison on each count, along with potential fines and restitution orders. Beyond what happens to Suess personally, prosecutors argue that cases like this are meant to send a message to marketers and pharmacies that exploit mail-order programs and insurance benefits to pad their profits with improper billing. Patients who receive surprise prescriptions or large, unexplained shipments of medications are urged to contact their insurer or the prescribing provider to confirm what was actually authorized.
