Two Wichita brothers have pleaded guilty in federal court to their roles in a scheme to defraud a federal healthcare program.
In a court appearance Wednesday, 60-year-old Todd Eck and 56-year-old Bradley Eck pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. They are scheduled to be sentenced on January 13th and they face up to five years in prison. As part of a plea agreement, they will have to pay $3.4 million in restitution.
Prosecutors said from January of 2017 to April, 2019, the Ecks used four healthcare companies they created to enroll to receive Medicare reimbursements for billed medical procedures. They concealed their ownership and control of the businesses on the Medicare enrollment form, and they omitted background information about themselves. The omissions led to a determination that the Ecks were eligible to enroll, so all Medicare reimbursements to them were fraudulent.
The Kansas Board of Healing Arts revoked Bradley Eck’s chiropractic license in 2013 for gross negligence, professional incompetency and dishonesty. The Board revoked Todd Eck’s license in 2018 for violation of an order, fraud during license renewal, practicing medicine without a license, fraudulent medical records and failure to maintain records.
