The Department of Justice announced that two executives have been sentenced to 20 years in prison for coordinating a plot to defraud the Affordable Care Act (ACA) program.
Cory Lloyd, 47, of Stuart, Florida, and Steven Strong, 43, of Mansfield, Texas, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Strong also faces money laundering charges. The conspiracy entailed enrolling vulnerable individuals in fully subsidized ACA plans, resulting in at least $180 million in false subsidies paid by the federal government, according to the DOJ.
The defendants, who were the president of an insurance brokerage firm and the CEO of a marketing firm, targeted low-income people, including those experiencing homelessness and mental health concerns, and fraudulently enrolled them in ACA plans. According to court filings, this allowed them to make millions of dollars in commissions from insurance firms.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi denounced the activities, saying, “Preying on medically compromised consumers to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayer-funded programs is evil and unforgivable.” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva stated, “These defendants will rightfully face decades in prison for exploiting thousands of vulnerable people.”
To maximize commission payouts, fraudulent practices included employing false sales scripts and evading federal verification requirements. Evidence revealed that Lloyd and Strong exchanged text messages about using hurricane shelters in Florida for their plot.
The FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Inquiry (IRS-CI) all undertook the inquiry. The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida worked together to prosecute the case.
In addition to their prison sentences, Lloyd and Strong were required to pay $180.6 million in restitution. A third defendant, Dafud Iza, already pleaded guilty to massive fraud against the United States and received a 35-month jail sentence for his role.
Leave a Reply