The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday that it indicted 24 individuals for their part in a $1.2 billion health care fraud scheme involving telemedicine and durable medical equipment (DME).

The individuals charged include three licensed professionals, CEOs and COOs of telemedicine companies, and the owners of dozens of DME companies. The scheme involved “payment of illegal kickbacks and bribes by DME companies in exchange for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries by medical professionals working with fraudulent telemedicine companies for back, shoulder, wrist and knee braces that are medically unnecessary.” The telemedicine companies paid doctors to prescribe DME without any patient interaction or sometimes with only a brief conversation over the phone. This included international transactions.

Additionally, the Center for Medicare Services (CMS) and Center for Program Integrity (CPI) announced that it took action against 130 DME companies “that had submitted over $1.7 billion in claims and were paid over $900 million.” CMS and CPI will work closely with the DOJ in the investigation and prosecution of the claims.