PATIENT BROKER SENTENCED IN HEALTH CARE FRAUD SCHEME; ANOTHER PLEADS GUILTY

Kevin Leonard, a Tennessee resident, was sentenced on January 31, 2025, in U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, for health care fraud. Leonard was sentenced to 5 years of probation and ordered to forfeit $234,000. Leonard was a patient broker who unlawfully brokered patients to clinical treatment facilities owned and operated by Paragon Recovery LLC. In exchange, Leonard and others received kickback payments. The scheme resulted in the inflated fraudulent billing of insurance providers, including Amtrak’s.

In addition, Casimiro Bojorquez, a California resident, pleaded guilty on January 14, 2025, to conspiracy related to the health care fraud scheme. Our investigation found that Bojorquez and others conspired to solicit, offer, and receive illegal remunerations for referrals to clinical treatment facilities owned and operated by Paragon Recovery. Amtrak’s insurance providers were billed approximately $1,152,000 by facilities owned and operated by Paragon Recovery over the course of the scheme.

Bojorquez and two other codefendants will be sentenced at a future date.