What happened
The U.S. Justice Department said on 13 November 2026 that Chad Monroe, 48, of Tarpon Springs, Florida, pleaded guilty that day to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of wire fraud over a $42 million fraud on Medicare involving durable medical equipment (DME) and cancer genetic testing, and a fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. According to court documents and statements in court, Monroe and co-conspirators opened three DME companies (Maksix Medical Products Inc., Orthotech Atlanta, LLC and 1st Choice Medical Supply LLC) and used them to submit more than $26 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans and TRICARE for knee, wrist, ankle and back braces and genetic tests that beneficiaries did not want or need. He paid kickbacks to purported telemedicine companies for doctors' orders, and through his company Health and Life Networking LLC sold genetic-testing orders to co-conspirator laboratories, which paid him more than $15 million in illegal kickbacks. He also directed a co-conspirator to submit a PPP loan application of more than $30,000 that lied about the ownership of 1st Choice Medical Supply. The government seized a 47-foot yacht called 'The Rogue Shark', valued at more than $600,000, and more than $1 million. No sentencing date has been set.
How the scam works
A charge, an arraignment, a witness's testimony or a prosecutor's accusation is not a finding of guilt. People and companies named in these reports are accused, charged or, where the source says so, convicted or sentenced, and they are presumed innocent unless and until a court finds otherwise. Do not treat a news report or a press release as a substitute for a court judgment. If you think you were affected by the same kind of scheme, keep records and report them to the investigating agency named in the source, or to your local police and your bank.
Source
Source: https://x.com/DoW_IG/status/2121289357336146304 (@DoW_IG, Nov 13, 2026, 12:09 PM ET); https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-man-pleads-guilty-42m-durable-medical-equipment-and-cancer-genetic-testing-fraud (U.S. Department of Justice, 13 Nov 2026)
