Florida man indicted for mail-order pharmacy and healthcare kickback scheme involving Carthage business

PEORIA — A federal grand jury returned an indictment on July 16 against Franz (also known as “Frank”) Peter Suess, 77, of Wellington, Fla., for running a long-standing conspiracy related to his operation of a network of mail-order pharmacies and payment of illegal healthcare kickbacks to procure prescriptions for his pharmacies.

Suess was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and healthcare fraud, four counts involving healthcare kickback payments or offers to pay kickbacks, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of Illinois said the indictment alleges that starting as early as March 2014 and continuing until at least October 2023, Suess owned a network of pharmacies and business entities that were involved in their management. Suess bought multiple small retail pharmacies throughout the country with the intent of converting the vast majority of the businesses from in-person pharmacies to mail-order businesses. Suess would typically put the ownership of the pharmacies into the names of third parties despite the fact that he provided the funding for the purchase, received a significant share of the profits and maintained control of the pharmacy network through his other companies.

After buying a pharmacy, Suess made fraudulent submissions to various healthcare entities. In these submissions, Suess hid his ownership and control of the pharmacies, failed to disclose that the pharmacy was being converted to a mail-order pharmacy and falsely claimed he complied with the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. Through these false claims, Suess and his co-conspirators defrauded and intended to defraud private and public health insurance providers such as Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE.

Suess’s scheme included his July 2017 purchase of McHugh Drug Store in Carthage, which is within the Central District of Illinois. Suess concealed his ownership and paid illegal kickbacks for prescriptions that were filled by McHugh.

If convicted, Suess shall forfeit any property that is derived, either directly or indirectly, from gross proceeds traceable to the commission of the offenses. The property includes, but is not limited to, a money judgment.

A summons was issued for Suess to appear in federal court before Magistrate Judge Jonathan E. Hawley on Aug. 23 in the federal courthouse in Peoria.

If convicted, the maximum statutory penalties for the alleged crimes charged are up to 20 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and healthcare fraud; up to 10 years’ imprisonment for the four kickback counts; and up to five years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to defraud the United States. Each count carries the possibility of a $250,000 fine, or twice the pecuniary gain/loss. Each count could be followed with up to a three-year term of supervised release.

Agencies participating in the investigation were the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Springfield field office), the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and Office of Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas F. McMeyer is representing the government in the prosecution.