Rockdale County

Ga. nurse practitioner convicted in fraud scheme ordered to pay back $1.6M, serve 7 years in prison

ROCKDALE COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia nurse practitioner has been sentence to prison and ordered to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution for her role in a massive telemedicine fraud scheme, according to the Department of Justice.

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Sherley Beaufils, 44, of Conyers, was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison after she was convicted in the scheme which involved illegal kickbacks.

Prosecutors said Beaufils facilitated orders for more than 3,000 orthotic braces generating more than $3 million in charges to Medicare for patients that she never treated. The orders included a knee brace for a leg amputee and a back brace for a patient who was dead. She then sold the orders to companies to generate reimbursement from Medicare.

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“Sherley Beaufils let greed take the wheel when she raked in massive profits by ordering unnecessary medical devices for patients she never examined or spoke to,” said U.S. Attorney Estes. “She targeted the elderly and medically vulnerable with her schemes, and is now being held accountable.”

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The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan A. Porter and Patricia G. Rhodes.