HealthSplash Founder Convicted in Massive $1 Billion Medicare Fraud and Kickback Conspiracy

MIAMI — A federal jury in the Southern District of Florida has convicted the founder and owner of HealthSplash in what federal prosecutors described as one of the largest and most aggressive Medicare fraud conspiracies uncovered in recent years, a scheme authorities say exploited hundreds of thousands of elderly Americans while generating more than $1 billion in fraudulent federal health care claims.

Brett Blackman, 42, of Johnson County, Kansas, was convicted on multiple federal charges tied to a sprawling telemedicine and durable medical equipment fraud operation centered around an internet-based platform known as DMERx.

Federal prosecutors stated the operation functioned as a large-scale prescription and referral network designed to generate medically unnecessary braces and other equipment using fraudulent doctors’ orders signed by physicians allegedly paid through illegal kickback arrangements.

According to evidence presented during trial, the conspiracy aggressively targeted senior citizens nationwide through foreign call centers, telemarketing campaigns, and mass outreach operations designed to pressure Medicare beneficiaries into accepting orthotic braces and other medical equipment they often did not need.

Authorities stated many victims were elderly individuals who believed they were participating in legitimate health care consultations when they were instead being funneled into a fraudulent billing pipeline designed to exploit Medicare reimbursement systems.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the operation as one of the most severe health care fraud schemes prosecuted in Florida.

“The Department of Justice crushed one of the most egregious fraud schemes in Florida history,” Blanche said. “This illegitimate operation stole more than $1 billion from American taxpayers — including hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries. This was cold, calculated, industrial-scale theft targeting the sick and elderly, coercing vulnerable people into buying unnecessary medical equipment.”

Federal prosecutors stated Blackman controlled HealthSplash and oversaw the acquisition of Power Mobility Doctor Rx, LLC, commonly known as DMERx, in September 2017.

According to court evidence, the DMERx platform operated as a digital infrastructure system connecting marketers, telemedicine companies, pharmacies, and durable medical equipment suppliers with doctors willing to sign electronic orders in exchange for illegal kickbacks and bribes.

Investigators stated the platform generated fraudulent prescriptions and medical orders that falsely represented physicians had conducted legitimate examinations or consultations with patients.

In many cases, prosecutors stated no meaningful doctor-patient interaction occurred at all.

Evidence presented during trial included testimony involving an undercover federal agent posing as a Medicare beneficiary. Prosecutors stated the undercover operation demonstrated how the system allegedly moved victims from foreign call centers directly into fraudulent telemedicine workflows where braces and equipment were approved without legitimate medical evaluation.

According to prosecutors, one physician signed medical orders claiming to have conducted physical testing procedures that could only occur during an in-person examination despite never speaking to the undercover “patient.”

Federal investigators stated Blackman and his co-conspirators structured the operation to maximize billing volume while attempting to shield the conspiracy from Medicare scrutiny through sham contracts, manipulated records, and altered documentation practices intended to avoid federal audits.

Authorities stated the suppliers and pharmacies involved in the conspiracy ultimately billed Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs more than $1 billion.

Federal programs reportedly paid more than $450 million tied to those claims.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division stated the operation weaponized telemarketing infrastructure and exploited senior citizens on an industrial scale.

“The defendant orchestrated a massive telemarketing scheme that used foreign call centers and spam mailers to target our country’s senior citizens and defraud government health care benefit programs,” McDonald said.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida stated the fraud operation transformed modern telemedicine infrastructure into a criminal revenue system.

“This was not health care. It was a billion-dollar fraud machine,” Quiñones said. “The defendant built and operated a platform that generated false doctors’ orders, used foreign call centers to target seniors, and helped push medically unnecessary equipment through Medicare and other federal health care programs.”

Federal authorities stated the scheme impacted not only Medicare, but also programs connected to veterans, military families, and other federally supported health care systems.

Investigators from the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service stated fraud of this scale drains resources intended for active-duty military personnel, retirees, and dependents relying on federal medical support systems.

FBI Miami Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles stated the conspiracy demonstrated how digital health care infrastructure can be manipulated into large-scale fraud ecosystems when oversight mechanisms are bypassed.

“The scale of greed in this case is staggering,” Skiles said. “Brett Blackman and his co-conspirators systematically preyed upon hundreds of thousands of elderly and vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries, converting a platform meant for modern healthcare into a $1 billion vehicle for outright fraud.”

Federal investigators increasingly warn that telemedicine systems, remote consultation platforms, electronic prescription services, and digital health referral networks remain vulnerable to organized fraud operations seeking to exploit federal reimbursement structures.

The rapid expansion of remote medical systems during recent years created opportunities for criminal networks to industrialize fraudulent order generation through automated workflows, offshore marketing infrastructure, identity targeting operations, and mass-signature prescription pipelines.

Authorities stated fraudulent durable medical equipment schemes remain one of the most persistent forms of Medicare fraud because the operations often combine telemarketing pressure campaigns, identity harvesting, physician kickback arrangements, shell companies, and manipulated billing systems into highly scalable criminal enterprises.

The jury convicted Blackman of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and conspiracy to defraud the United States and make false statements connected to health care matters.

Blackman’s co-defendant, Gary Cox, was previously convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Federal prosecutors stated Blackman faces up to 20 years in prison on the conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud charge, along with additional penalties tied to the remaining convictions.

Sentencing is scheduled for August 26, 2026.

The FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Darren C. Halverson and Reginald Cuyler Jr. of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case with assistance from Trial Attorneys Shane Butland, Jennifer E. Burns, and Evan N. Schlom.

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