By: Richard L. Smith
James D. Feeley, a 46-year-old Ohio resident and owner of several marketing companies, has admitted his involvement in a complex healthcare fraud and illegal kickback scheme, as U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna announced.
Pleading guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in Newark federal court, Feeley faced conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback statute and commit health care fraud.
Federal officials said the fraudulent activities spanned from June 2017 to September 2020, involving a network of pharmacies, telemedicine companies, and doctors to submit false claims to Medicare and TRICARE, totaling over $24 million.
The scheme orchestrated by Feeley and his marketing companies involved pressuring Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries into agreeing to receive expensive, medically unnecessary medications.
These practices included concealing prescribing doctors' identities and offering kickbacks to telemedicine companies and doctors for generating prescriptions.
Feeley's operations also included kickback arrangements with pharmacies, including Apogee Bio Pharm LLC in Edison, New Jersey.
Feeley and his companies received over $6 million in kickbacks and bribes for prescription referrals through these conspiracies. Feeley's business partner, Mark Belter, has already pleaded guilty to related charges.
Charges against the principals of Apogee, William Welwart, Ethan Welwart, and Gary Kaczka, are pending in a separate indictment.
They, along with Elan Yaish, former president of Apogee who has pleaded guilty to a similar conspiracy, are considered innocent until proven guilty.
Feeley's sentencing is scheduled for July 9, 2024. He faces a maximum of five years in prison for each charge and substantial fines, restitution, and penalties.