HOUSTON--Two doctors were among four people convicted of defrauding Medicare of $21 million in connection with a power wheelchair scam, officials said last week.

A federal jury in Houston convicted Dr. Charles Frank Skripka Jr., 65; Dr. Jayshree Patel, 62; Pius James Ekiko, 43; and David Dennis Brown, 47, of health care fraud for their roles in the scheme, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Texas. Skripka, Ekiko and Brown also were convicted of conspiracy to defraud Medicare and wire fraud, and Skripka and Ekiko were convicted of several counts of money laundering.

According to prosecutors, Brown recruited Medicare beneficiaries from Louisiana, promising free scooters and $50 to see Patel and Skripka. Brown then transported beneficiaries 350 miles to Houston to see the physicians, who qualified 30 to 80 patients a day for wheelchairs without performing physical examinations or ordering medical tests.

Prosecutors also said DME company Horizon Medical Supply, owned by Ekiko, then paid the doctor's office a $200 kickback for each phony prescription and CMN. Ekiko used the fake CMNs to bill Medicare for power wheelchairs, while providing significantly less-expensive scooters to the beneficiaries.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 17. Each health care fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, without parole, and a $250,000 fine. Each wire fraud count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and the conspiracy count carries a penalty of five years of imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

The money laundering counts carry either a 10- or 20-year maximum penalty and as much as a $500,000 fine.