U.S. Department of Justice Marcos Daniel Jiménez United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
	99 N.E. 4th Street Miami, FL 33132 (305) 961-9001

POWER WHEELCHAIR COMPANY OWNER SENTENCED
TO 53 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME

Marcos Daniel Jiménez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Hector M. Pesquera, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Bernardo Rodriguez, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, announced today the sentencing of Todd W. Neff for his participation in a multi-million dollar Medicare fraud scheme involving expensive power wheelchairs.

United States District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga today sentenced Neff to 53 months’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay $1.7 million in restitution to Medicare. Upon his release, Neff was ordered to serve 3 years of supervised release. Neff was also sentenced to serve a concurrent 53-month prison sentence for violating his pre-trial bond conditions in the wheelchair fraud indictment

Neff was indicted by a Miami grand jury on February 13, 2003, along with six co-defendants, Chadd D. Miller, Carlos Scott, Eduardo Sanchez, Rolando Sama, Angel A. Fernandez, and Leonardo Redondo, for conspiring to defraud Medicare in connection with the submission of approximately $5 million of fraudulent claims for the cost of power wheelchairs and accessories. The wheelchairs allegedly were supplied to Medicare patients by companies owned and controlled by Neff and Miller, Imagine Consulting Services (Imagine) and K & F Services Corporation (K & F), which operated in Miami-Dade and Broward County, according to the indictment. The indictment also charged Neff and the six co-defendants with conspiring to launder proceeds of the fraud scheme.

According to the indictment, Neff and Miller owned and controlled Imagine and K & F and paid and oversaw patient recruiters, including Scott, Sanchez, Sama, and others. These recruiters paid cash kickbacks to Medicare patients so that the patients would agree to serve as fictitious power wheelchair recipients. Neff and Miller’s companies then submitted approximately $5 million in bills to Medicare, seeking reimbursement for the cost of the wheelchairs, many of which were never actually supplied to the patients, the indictment charged.

The indictment further alleged that with Neff and Miller’s knowledge and approval, Scott, Sanchez, Sama, and others staged deliveries of wheelchairs to these Medicare patients. At the staged deliveries, patients were given documents to sign, including “delivery confirmation tickets.” In addition, photographs were taken of the patients, sitting in the wheelchairs, so that there would be “proof” that the wheelchairs were delivered. According to the indictment, the power wheelchairs were not delivered to the beneficiaries in many instances, and on some occasions, the wheelchairs were left temporarily, only to be later picked up so that the chairs could be used for other staged deliveries.

Shortly after Neff’s initial court appearance on the wheelchair fraud indictment, he violated the terms of his pre-trial bond by fleeing for Costa Rica. On March 27, 2003, a grand jury in Miami indicted him for bond jumping and failure to appear in court. In early April, Neff flew from Costa Rica to Newark, New Jersey and surrendered to federal authorities. He has been in federal custody ever since.

With today’s sentencing, Neff and the other six co-defendants in the power wheelchair fraud scheme case have all been sentenced to prison terms for their roles in the scheme. On December 19, 2003, Judge Altonaga sentenced Miller to 87 months’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay $1.7 million in restitution.

In October, Scott was sentenced to 78 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay $1.7 million in restitution. Sanchez was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment and was ordered to pay $480,000 in restitution.

In August, Redondo was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment and was ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution. In September, Fernandez and Sama were each sentenced to one year and a day in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the respective amounts of $450,000 and $860,000.

Mr. Jiménez commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Frank.

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