Jacobo Melcer, a resident and business owner from Bonita, has entered a guilty plea in federal court for his involvement in a Medicare fraud scheme. He admitted to conspiring with others to defraud Medicare of millions of dollars and paying unlawful kickbacks for patient referrals.
Melcer’s plea agreement reveals that he submitted over $5.88 million in false claims to Medicare through two durable medical equipment (DME) companies he owned. These companies sold orthotics, such as back, wrist, and knee braces, to Medicare beneficiaries.
In his admission, Melcer acknowledged paying unlawful kickbacks to several companies for referring Medicare beneficiaries and prescriptions for DME. He was aware that the prescriptions were signed by physicians who had no legitimate relationship with the beneficiaries and did not conduct proper medical evaluations.
Overall, Melcer confessed to paying more than $227,000 in kickbacks while fraudulently billing Medicare $5,885,382. He received payments totaling $3,479,303 from these fraudulent activities. As part of his guilty plea agreement, Melcer has agreed to forfeit this amount and pay restitution.
Additionally, Melcer admitted creating and selling two DME companies to a co-conspirator under a nominee owner’s name. This was done to conceal true ownership from Medicare after the co-conspirator was suspended as a provider and could no longer submit claims.
Melcer is scheduled for sentencing on October 10, 2025. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Blanca Quintero from the Southern District of California.
