A 79-year-old Wellington, Florida, man is facing a decade in federal prison after admitting to a complex health care fraud scheme that revolved around high-priced, medically unnecessary “foot baths.”
Frank Suess, also known as Franz P. Suess, pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced.
The scheme, which operated between 2019 and 2020, centered on the distribution of “foot baths”—expensive cocktails of antibiotic and antifungal drugs that patients were told to dissolve in warm water.
These kits often included high-cost medications like vancomycin capsules, moxifloxacin eye drops, and ketoconazole cream, none of which were approved or intended for use as a foot soak.
According to U.S. Attorney Brian D. Miller, Suess and his associates used templated, pre-checked order forms gathered at New York area “health fairs” to bill insurance companies for large quantities of these drugs without ever evaluating the patients.
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Suess admitted to using his company, Medivalue Florida LLC, to secretly finance and control several pharmacies, including Sterling Pharmacy in Jermyn, Pennsylvania, as well as locations in Florida and Texas.
By hiding his involvement, Suess was able to steer profitable mail orders to these specific pharmacies. When insurance companies began investigating the unusual billing patterns, the group shifted operations to different pharmacies to keep the profits flowing.
The fraud generated more than $700,000 in profits from a private insurance fund, with additional fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare.
Suess also acknowledged paying illegal kickbacks to co-conspirators for signed order forms and hiring third-party marketers to drum up more orders for expensive creams and diabetic supplies. To cover their tracks, the group created a “marketing services agreement” that falsely claimed payments were for hourly consulting rather than illegal referrals.
Federal investigators noted that the group ignored numerous red flags and direct complaints from “freaked out” patients.
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Some recipients reported they had never seen a podiatrist and were “scared of the box” because of the sheer volume of medications they received without instructions. Suess admitted that the group only stopped billing through Sterling Pharmacy once insurance providers refused to process the orders.
As part of his plea deal, Suess has agreed to forfeit a commercial property in Wellington, Florida, valued at approximately $4 million.
He also faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count. While Suess awaits sentencing, four other co-defendants—Luis Salgado, Melissa Driscoll, Victor Velazco, and Dave Singh—are still pending trial. Two others, Warren Pizik and Diana Castro, have already pleaded guilty. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services.
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