WPB Man Sentenced for Role in $7M DME Fraud, Kickback and False Claim Scheme

A West Palm Beach man was sentenced to a little more than five years in prison and ordered to pay $7 million in restitution for his part in a durable medical equipment (DME) fraud scheme. Christopher Margait pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud by fraudulently trafficking in orders for durable medical equipment such as back, knee, and wrist braces.

According to court documents, from at least August 2019 through May 2021, Margait and co-conspirator Matthew Taylor Witkowski, who was arrested in July 2022, jointly owned and operated a call center that operated in the Dominican Republic. Margait illegally generated and purchased fraudulent orders for DME and then sold them to pharmacies and DME suppliers, including suppliers in New York City where he was sentenced. None of the Medicare beneficiaries whose information was used knew of the orders, nor did they authorize them.

Many of the fraudulent orders also contained professional information of doctors and other health-care providers enrolled in the Medicare program, as well as the purported electronic signatures of these providers, which were falsified and created without the authorization or knowledge of these providers.

The fraud resulted in more than $7 million in claims to Medicare. Witkowski received more than $3.8 million in illegal kickbacks from DME suppliers, who made these payments to True Prospects Marketing, Inc., a company controlled by him and Margait. According to the complaint, one of the DME suppliers paid more than $186,000 to True Prospects for “marketing†for which the company was paid $5,000 a week.

Witkowski, a U.S. citizen who has lived in the Dominican Republic since he was in college, pled guilty on Jan. 19 to a single count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. He was sentenced on April 20 to five months in prison and three years of supervised release.  He was also ordered to pay forfeiture of $4 million and restitution of $8.1 million the Medicare program.

The Health Law Offices of Anthony C. Vitale represents healthcare professionals in state and federal court who are charged with fraudulent billing, kickbacks, Medicare and Medicaid fraud and false claims, among others. For more information, contact us at 305-358-4500 or email info@vitalehealthlaw.com