A federal jury in Fort Worth found Texas licensed professional counselor Kevin D. Curry guilty on nine federal charges for orchestrating a $26 million health care fraud scheme targeting the military’s TRICARE program, the Department of Justice announced.
Curry, 64, of Frisco, Texas, operated mental health clinics under Acuity TMS in Plano and Fort Worth, alongside Emerald Coast TMS in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Federal prosecutors demonstrated at trial that his clinics systematically billed TRICARE for medically unnecessary or completely unprovided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) therapy.
Details of the $26 Million TRICARE Kickback Scheme
According to court documents and evidence presented during the proceedings, the fraudulent enterprise relied heavily on illegal financial incentives. Curry directed over $5.5 million in illicit kickbacks to induce active-duty service members, veterans, and their family members into consenting to TMS treatments they neither qualified for nor received.
To mask the fraudulent billings, Curry falsely presented himself to patients and networks as a medical doctor. He utilized actual physicians’ credentials without their authorization or knowledge to submit reimbursement claims. He also directed clinic staff to fabricate comprehensive medical records to justify the fraudulent billings submitted to the government program.
In total, Acuity clinics billed TRICARE for more than $26 million in false claims, resulting in approximately $17 million in payouts from the federal health insurance program. Investigators later linked portions of the illicit proceeds to luxury purchases, including a gold-plated Tesla Cybertruck valued at more than $100,000.
Federal Charges and Sentencing Guidelines
The federal jury convicted Curry on multiple serious counts, which include:
- Three counts of health care fraud
- Three counts of offering and paying illegal health care kickbacks
- Three counts of engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property
Curry faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison on each count. A federal district court judge will determine his final sentence following a review of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. His sentencing date remains pending.
“Kevin Curry shamelessly preyed on the trust of service members, veterans, and their families, siphoning millions from TRICARE through lies and coercion,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “He fabricated medical records, stole doctors’ identities and clogged the system with fraudulent claims, all while lining his pockets with kickback-tainted money.”
Multi-Agency Investigation and Enforcement Context
The extensive investigation into Curry’s operations was conducted by a collaborative task force comprising the Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Southwest Field Office, the FBI Dallas Field Office, the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG).
The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Womble for the Northern District of Texas and Trial Attorneys Adam Tisdall and Yael Mash of the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section. The case falls under the broader enforcement actions of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, established to root out fraud, waste, and abuse across federal benefit programs.
