MIAMI — A Florida businessman was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Thursday for health care and wire fraud that cost Medicare more than $20 million, and for evading taxes.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Marc Sporn, 59, of Delray Beach, was sentenced in a federal court in Miami.
Prosecutors said Sporn owned and operated several telemarketing and telemedicine companies. Prosecutors said that Sporn used the companies to market medically unnecessary genetic tests to Medicare beneficiaries and to sell prescriptions for medically unnecessary genetic tests to laboratories in exchange for kickbacks and bribes.
Delray Beach man gets 14 years in prison for $20 million Medicare fraud scheme, tax evasion https://t.co/MbPjnEx9bW pic.twitter.com/3Y3n0zh1Zw
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) June 16, 2022
Prosecutors said Sporn knew the laboratories would use the doctors’ prescription orders to bill Medicare for unnecessary goods and services, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Sporn took a plea agreement on April 1 and pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and federal tax evasion, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Sporn also forfeited “ill-gotten gains” and pledged to help prosecutors obtain convictions against former business associates, the newspaper reported.
Sporn was ordered to pay more than $4 million in restitution to the IRS for personal income taxes he had evaded since 2000, the news release stated. Prosecutors said Sporn avoided paying personal back taxes by trying to conceal his assets, transferring property to trust funds and individuals, the release stated.
Prosecutors also said that Sporn also repeatedly opened and closed companies to avoid paying taxes.
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