A federal jury in Fort Worth convicted a Texas-licensed professional counselor of health care fraud, illegal kickbacks, and money laundering after prosecutors said he orchestrated a $26 million scheme targeting TRICARE, the federal health care program serving servicemembers, veterans, and their families.
Kevin D. Curry, 64, was convicted of three counts each of health care fraud, offering and paying illegal health care kickbacks, and engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property. He is scheduled to be sentenced later and faces up to 10 years in prison on each count.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Curry operated Acuity TMS clinics in Texas and Florida and billed TRICARE for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) therapy that prosecutors said was medically unnecessary, not provided, or otherwise ineligible for reimbursement.
Prosecutors said Curry paid more than $5.5 million in kickbacks to persuade servicemembers, veterans and their family members to undergo TMS treatment they did not qualify for and, in some cases, never received.
He also allegedly used doctors' credentials without their knowledge and directed employees to fabricate medical records.
Acuity submitted more than $26 million in fraudulent TMS claims, with TRICARE paying approximately $17 million, according to the Justice Department. Curry then used proceeds on hotels, a casino-themed party, and a gold-plated Tesla Cybertruck valued at more than $100,000.
"Yesterday's verdict makes clear that those who try to defraud the United States will be met with swift and decisive justice," said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of DOJ's National Fraud Enforcement Division.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said Curry "preyed on the trust of service members, veterans, and their families" by using fraudulent claims and kickbacks.
The cases were investigated by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI, the Texas Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General.
