A New York national sales director has been charged in federal court in Boston for allegedly conspiring to offer and pay kickbacks to doctors. The charges involve ordering medically unnecessary brain scans, according to an announcement made on February 20, 2025.
David Fuhrmann, aged 59, from Port Jefferson, New York, is accused of one count of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute. He has agreed to plead guilty, although a plea hearing date has not yet been set by the court.
The charging documents allege that from June 2013 through September 2020, Fuhrmann conspired with others, including two managers from a mobile medical diagnostics company performing transcranial doppler (TCD) scans. They reportedly entered into kickback agreements with various doctors. It is claimed that these agreements involved offering and paying doctors based on the number of TCD ultrasounds ordered. Payments were allegedly made in cash or by check.
Fuhrmann and his co-conspirators are said to have created rental and administrative service agreements that falsely appeared as if doctors were compensated for space and administrative resources at fair market value. These arrangements allegedly concealed payments per test.
The scheme reportedly resulted in approximately $70.6 million in fraudulent Medicare bills.
Conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge following U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes.
U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley; Roberto Coviello from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Jodi Cohen from the FBI's Boston Division; Thomas Demeo from the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division; Kelly M. Lawson from the U.S. Department of Labor; Ketty Larco-Ward from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Christopher Algieri from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office are involved in this case's investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard Locker and Mackenzie Queenin are prosecuting this case within the Health Care Fraud Unit.
The details contained in these documents are allegations at this stage, with Fuhrmann presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.