Florida Executives Get 20 Years in $233M Obamacare Fraud Targeting Vulnerable Victims

The president of a Florida insurance brokerage firm and the chief executive officer of a marketing company were sentenced on February 18. The two men were sentenced to 20 years each in prison after carrying out an elaborate $233 million fraud tied to the Affordable Care Act.

The scheme mainly targeted vulnerable individuals such as the homeless, jobless and hurricane victims. According to the investigators, the fraud was carried out to pocket millions of dollars in unearned commissions.

The two men identified as Cory Lloyd, 46, of Stuart Florida and Steven Strong,42, from Mansfield, Texas. Both were convicted of conspiracy and fraud. Their elaborate scam included lying and falsifying government documents to obtain coverage from individuals. They also lied and bribed individuals who were potential victims to sign up for the plans, even after knowing the action would cost them their existing insurance coverage.

Both Lloyd and Strong, apart from serving their 20 years’ prison sentences, have been ordered to pay $180.6 million in restitution to their victims. The victims were mostly people from vulnerable groups, such as the homeless, the jobless or the victims of the hurricane.

According to Department of Justice officials, both Llyod and Strong profited from the scheme for years. They used their illegally obtained wealth to purchase luxury items, such as luxury vehicles, an 80-foot-yacht and an ocean facing house in Florida.

In a statement reported by Fox News, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said “praying upon medically compromised consumers to rob hundreds of millions of taxpayers funded programs is evil and unforgivable.”

"Fraud schemes like this robs citizens and shakes faith in our institutions," Bondi said.

“Today’s sentence is the latest example of this DOJ’s commitment to fighting fraud nationwide,” Bondi added.

Approximately 35,000 individuals were enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans during the year-long scheme led by the two. The Justice Department said that both Lloyd and Strong sought more than $233 million in fraudulent payments, including $180 million in federal Affordable Care Act funding, according to Fox News.

Both Lloyd and Strong were sophisticated, licensed insurance brokers. They intentionally targeted people who were experiencing homelessness and other difficulties. According to court documents, they also targeted people who were suffering from various addictions.

“They had everything and intentionally took advantage of the people who had nothing. The message from these sentences is simple: those who seek to line their own pockets with tax payer’s dollars, victimize our most vulnerable and deplete federal programs will be held accountable,” said Tysen Duva, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department in a statement.

Persecutors during the trial said Llyod and Strong conspired to bypass federal income and eligibility verification safeguards. Medicated applications were intentionally submitted to trigger denials, allowing them to steer the same individuals into fully subsidized Affordable Care Act plans outside the open enrollment period to maximize their commission year around.