Two North Texas Men Charged In $65M Military Health Care Fraud Scheme
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DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - Two North Texas men have been indicted and arrested for a huge scheme to defraud the military healthcare system.
A federal indictment that was just unsealed says neither 44-year old Richard Robert Cesario of Plano nor 47-year old John Paul Cooper of Southlake has any medical or pharmaceutical training. Rather, the court papers say, they were marketers who set up a fraud and kickback scheme to defraud the Department of Defense's healthcare system, TRICARE, out of a whopping $65 million in just a year and a half.
The indictment goes into a complicated scheme that involves pain and scar creams, client pharmacies and patients, prescriptions by doctors who were on the take, and a phoney foundation the"Freedom From Pain Foundation,"that was set up to cover the tracks.
As part of the indictment, the Government seized four homes in Plano, Frisco and Southlake, Texas; one home in Jacksonville, Florida; 18 bank accounts; 21 cars and trucks, including a Jaguar, a Maserati, a Ferrari, a Porsche, an Aston Martin and three Mercedes-Benz; two motor coaches; and one boat.
Both men were arrested yesterday and are being held at least until a detention hearing next week.
*This is a developing story. Listen to 1080 KRLD for the latest details.
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