A Frisco mental health clinic owner was found guilty of running a multimillion-dollar TRICARE fraud scheme that diverted taxpayer money into luxuries including a gold-plated Tesla Cybertruck.
A federal jury in Fort Worth convicted Kevin D. Curry on Thursday on nine felony counts tied to a scheme prosecutors said defrauded the military health program that covers active-duty troops, retirees, and their families.
Curry, 64, was found guilty on three counts of health care fraud, three counts of offering and paying illegal health care kickbacks, and three counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property. Sentencing was set for a later date, with each count carrying a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors said the case centered on clinics Curry owned and operated in Plano and Fort Worth, Texas, and Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and on billings for TMS therapy, a noninvasive brain-stimulation treatment used for certain mental health conditions.
Authorities said the clinics submitted more than $26 million in false, fraudulent, or kickback-tainted claims to TRICARE. The program ultimately paid about $17 million.
Prosecutors told the jury Curry’s operation billed for TMS that was medically unnecessary or never provided. They said he paid more than $5.5 million in illegal kickbacks to secure patient consent for the treatment.
The case also alleged identity and record abuse inside the clinics. Prosecutors said Curry falsely held himself out as a medical doctor, used licensed doctors’ credentials without their knowledge or consent, and directed employees to fabricate medical records before claims went out the door.
US Attorney Ryan Raybould said Curry “shamelessly preyed on the trust of servicemembers, veterans, and their families,” accusing him of fabricating records, stealing doctors’ identities, and submitting fraudulent claims while profiting from kickback-tainted money.
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald tied the conviction to the human cost on the military side of the ledger and to how the money was spent.
"This defendant exploited a critical health care program serving active-duty servicemembers and their families, diverting taxpayer dollars to bankroll personal luxuries ranging from hotel stays to a casino-themed party and even a gold-plated Tesla Cybertruck,"
McDonald said. Prosecutors described that Cybertruck as worth more than $100,000.
The verdict leaves a federal district judge to set the sentence after weighing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. No sentencing date was announced with the guilty findings.
TRICARE exists to deliver medical care to people who serve and to the families who depend on that coverage. A clinic network that bills the program for treatment never delivered, or that buys consent with kickbacks, turns that mission into a cash pipeline.
Curry’s conviction covers fraud, kickbacks, and the movement of criminally derived funds. The dollar trail prosecutors described ran from TRICARE claims through more than $5.5 million in illegal kickbacks and into personal spending that included hotel stays, a casino-themed party, and the gold-plated truck.
When a clinic owner treats the military’s health plan like a personal ATM, troops and taxpayers both get the bill, and a gold Cybertruck is a poor substitute for accountability.
