https://www.nj.com/news/2025/09/83-year-old-man-sentenced-to-prison-for-money-laundering-in-large-scale-healthcare-fraud-scheme.html

An 83-year-old Florida man has been sentenced to two years in prison for laundering proceeds from a large-scale healthcare fraud scheme, officials said.

Thomas Farese, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, laundered roughly half a million dollars, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey announced Wednesday.

According to court documents, a durable medical equipment supply company that Farese invested in defrauded insurers by billing Medicare and other providers for unnecessary equipment, officials said in a news release.

The kickback scheme caused insurance companies to lose millions of dollars, according to officials.

Farese previously pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a superseding information charging him with money laundering, according to the release.

In April 2019, several people involved in the scheme were arrested and charged. After learning of their arrests and fraudulent conduct, Farese discussed it with his business partner, who was later convicted. Farese then received $495,000 of proceeds from the scheme in his bank account, officials said.

After Farese completes his prison term, he will be required to serve six months of home confinement. He will also have to pay $1.3 million in restitution to the victims and forfeit his half-million-dollars in proceeds.

Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba credited the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service with conducting the investigation.