A federal jury in Fort Worth, Texas, convicted Kevin Curry, 64, of nearby Frisco on Sept. 24 in a $26 million healthcare fraud, kickbacks and money laundering scheme.
Mr. Curry billed TRICARE, the military’s health program, for transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy that was medically unnecessary or not provided, according to a Sept. 25 news release from the Department of Justice.
Here are six things to know:
1. Mr. Curry owned and operated two clinics in Texas, Acuity TMS of Plano and Acuity TMS of Fort Worth, and one in Florida, Emerald Coast TMS of Fort Walton Beach. The three clinics are collectively known as Acuity.
2. He offered and paid over $5.5 million in kickbacks to convince active-duty service members, veterans and their family members to consent to TMS therapy. Patients did not qualify for the care and, in many instances, did not receive it.
3. Mr. Curry falsely held himself out to be a medical doctor. He used real physicians’ credentials without their knowledge or consent to bill TRICARE. To conceal the fraud, he directed employees to fabricate medical records, which he submitted to TRICARE to justify the billings.
4. Acuity billed TRICARE over $26 million in false, fraudulent and kickback-tainted claims. TRICARE paid approximately $17 million.
5. Mr. Curry laundered some of the proceeds, including by spending on hotel stays, a party and a gold-plated Tesla Cybertruck worth over $100,000.
6. Mr. Curry was convicted by the jury of three counts of healthcare fraud, three counts of offering and paying illegal healthcare kickbacks and three counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property, and is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count.
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