The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, has announced the conviction of Ted Albin for orchestrating a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud scheme. The conviction followed a 12-day jury trial overseen by U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl.
“Ted Albin brazenly defrauded our Medicare system using fake and fraudulent prescriptions,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “He cheated Medicare out of millions meant for real patients with every taxpayer footing the bill. Today’s verdict makes clear: if you cheat Medicare, you will be prosecuted.”
Court documents and evidence presented at the trial revealed that from approximately 2016 through April 2021, Albin operated Grapevine Professional Services, a medical billing company. He used this company to submit fraudulent reimbursement claims for durable medical equipment (DME) such as back braces, knee braces, wrist braces, and shoulder braces.
Albin submitted thousands of fraudulent claims on behalf of DME supply companies that had engaged Grapevine for its billing services. These included at least three DME supply companies owned and controlled by Albin and his sister Erin Foley: Liberty Bell Medical, Skye Medical, and Priority Medical. The fraudulent claims were based on prescriptions that were illegally obtained with kickbacks paid by the DME supply companies. Some prescriptions billed by Albin were generated with forged doctor’s signatures without regard to medical necessity.
Albin knowingly continued to submit these fraudulent claims to Medicare over several years. In total, the DME companies involved billed Medicare for over $38 million, with Medicare paying out over $12 million.
Albin, aged 48 from Stuart, Florida, was convicted on multiple counts including conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud (maximum sentence of 20 years), health care fraud (maximum sentence of 10 years), wire fraud (maximum sentence of 20 years), and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute (maximum sentence of five years). His sentencing is scheduled for December 10, 2025.
Mr. Clayton commended the investigative work carried out by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General.
This case is being managed by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit with Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Kinder, Jackie Delligatti, Brandon Thompson, and Ryan Finkel leading the prosecution.
