Criminal Investigative Updates

Dr. Mark Loftis of Cushing, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in a years-long scheme that attempted to bilk Medicare, TRICARE, and CHAMPVA out of over $30 million for durable medical equipment that beneficiaries did not want or need. The VA OIG, HHS-OIG, FBI, and Defense Criminal Investigative Service investigated the case.

United States Attorney Scott E. Bradford in Portland announced the continued work of the District of Oregon’s Government Fraud Task Force, bringing together federal law enforcement agencies and inspectors general to strengthen efforts to identify, investigate, and prosecute fraud against government programs and American taxpayers. The US Attorney’s Office hosted the task force’s most recent meeting which was attended by federal prosecutors and representatives from participating agencies, including the VA OIG. The meeting focused on expanding intelligence and data sharing, developing new methods for identifying fraud, prioritizing investigative leads, and ensuring law enforcement resources are directed toward significant fraud schemes.

Thomas E. Lauer and Rebecca J. Davis pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit major fraud against the United States. Both Lauer and Davis admitted that they conspired with one another and others to secure five contracts awarded to Davis’s company, the Elstner Construction Company, at the Letterkenny Army Depot in Pennsylvania. The contracts were set aside for eligible small, disadvantaged businesses participating in an SBA program aimed at their development. The total value of these contracts was over $80 million. Lauer also admitted to conspiring with others to obtain a $5.3 million contract awarded to a VA medical center in Virginia. As part of their individual plea agreements, Lauer and Davis agreed to pay restitution. The VA OIG, the DoD OIG, Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the SBA OIG investigated this case.

Bradleigh Rival, of Stamford, Connecticut, was charged with bank fraud stemming from his alleged role in a conspiracy involving the theft, alteration, and negotiation of US Treasury checks worth hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen from the US Mail. Rival was identified as a participant in a conspiracy to acquire checks stolen from the mail, “wash” or alter the named payee on the checks, deposit them into bank accounts of individuals they recruited, and withdraw the stolen funds at ATMs, through mobile apps, by making purchases at stores with cash back capabilities, or by using debit cards to purchase US Postal Service money orders. The VA OIG, the US Postal Inspection Service Connecticut Organized Financial Fraud Task Force, the US Postal Service OIG, the US Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Social Security Administration OIG, and the Stamford Police Department investigated this case.

Kevin D. Curry, of Frisco, Texas, was convicted for his role in a $26 million health care fraud, kickbacks, and money laundering scheme. Curry, the owner and operator mental health clinics in Texas and Florida, orchestrated a scheme to bill federal healthcare programs for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) therapy that was medically unnecessary or not provided. Curry offered and paid over $5.5 million in kickbacks to convince active-duty servicemembers, veterans, and their family members to consent to TMS therapy they did not qualify for and, in many instances, did not receive. The VA OIG, the Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI, and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated this case.