Tucson Podiatrist Gets Prison For Medicare Fraud Scheme

Loren Scott Wessel

TUCSON – A podiatrist from Tucson, Loren Wessel, will serve time in prison for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme. In addition to serving a 24-month prison term, Wessel was ordered by the court to pay $965,985 in restitution to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Wessel, age 55, had previously pleaded guilty to Health Care Fraud. Wessel’s license was revoked in August 2019 by the Arizona Board of Podiatry Examiners.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Wessel engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicare out of hundreds of thousands of dollars from 2008 through June 2016.

In his plea agreement, Wessel admitted he submitted false claims to Medicare.

The DOJ alleged that Wessel regularly provided routine podiatry care for patients at assisted living facilities in and around Tucson, but fraudulently billed Medicare for more complex and significantly more expensive services that he had not performed as part of his practice. To further his scheme and conceal the fraud, Wessel also falsely documented patients’ medical records with alleged ailments they did not have and with care Wessel did not provide.

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