David Fuhrmann, of Port Jefferson, agrees to plead guilty in a scheme that defrauded Medicare out of $70M, federal prosecutors say

A Long Island man has been charged in federal court in Massachusetts with allegedly paying kickback schemes in exchange for doctors ordering brain scans that were not medically necessary, which resulted in approximately $70.6 million in fraudulent bills to Medicare, prosecutors said.

David Fuhrmann, 59, of Port Jefferson, the national sales director for a collection of entities that performed mobile diagnostic services, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston said in a news release.

Fuhrmann faces a maximum of up to 5 years in prison, supervised release for 3 years and a fine of $250,000, according to a 10-page plea agreement filed in federal court and dated Feb. 14.

As part of the plea agreement, which was signed by Fuhrmann and his lawyer, prosecutors said they would ask for Fuhrmann to be incarcerated for 5 years followed by 1 year of supervised release.

Prosecutors also plan to seek restitution of $27,225,434.44, which was the money paid by Medicare in support of the scheme, prosecutors said. The court will also enter a forfeiture order for more than $1.2 million, which is the amount Fuhrmann received from the scheme, according to the plea agreement.

The plea hearing is scheduled for March 20.

Fuhrmann’s defense attorney, Robert L. Sheketoff, did not respond to a message seeking comment Thursday.

Prosecutors said that from June 2014 to September 2020, Fuhrmann conspired to enter into kickback agreements with doctors, agreeing to pay them for the number of transcranial doppler (TCD) scans ordered.

Fuhrmann and his coconspirators created "sham" rental leases and administrative service agreements that "made it appear as if doctors were compensated for the TCD company’s use of space and administrative resources based on fair market value and not based on the volume or value of referrals," prosecutors said.

"These agreements were allegedly shams that hid the true nature of the arrangement of paying per test," prosecutors said, adding that the doctors were paid by cash and check between $100 and $150 per ultrasound.

The entities that performed the mobile diagnostic services, collectively referred to as "TCD Company," were based on Long Island but operated in multiple states, including Massachusetts, prosecutors said.

"Defendant and his coconspirators at TCD Company had different roles in facilitating these payments, from preparing sham contracts to disguise that doctors were paid per test; calculating the amount due each month; and preparing and delivering cash and check payments to the doctors," according to an agreed-upon statement of facts included in the plea agreement. "Defendant’s role included offering doctors the kickbacks, calculating the monthly kickback payments, facilitating delivery of and delivering cash kickback payments, and causing the preparation of sham contracts."

Fuhrmann and one of his co-conspirators gave doctors diagnosis codes, "which TCD Company generally needed to use to ensure payment from insurance companies," the statement of facts said.

The doctors frequently used codes for medical conditions called "vertebro-basilar insufficiency or vertebrobasilar syndrome and occlusion and stenosis of one or both carotid arteries" according to prosecutors.

"The doctors subsequently signed many prescriptions and orders in which a doctor or a TCD Company technician indicated or checked off that a given patient had one of those conditions even though the patients generally did not actually have those conditions," the plea agreement’s statement of facts said.

At least two Long Island doctors have been prosecuted as part of the scheme.

Dr. Kenneth Fishberger, 75, of East Setauket, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, Newsday has reported. Prosecutors said he received kickbacks for ordering the medically unnecessary scans in the form of nearly $50,000 in cash.

Dr. Vishnudat Seodat, 75, of Mattituck, pleaded guilty last December to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston. Prosecutors said he received kickbacks in exchange for ordering the unnecessary scans.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.