Kingpin Medicare fraudster to plead guilty to crimes after getting deported to SC

A major fraudster who was hiding out in the Philippines before getting deported back to South Carolina is expected to plead guilty to charges connected to him fleeing the country, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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During a hearing scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at the federal courthouse in Columbia, 60-year-old Herbert Leon Kimble will plead guilty to a criminal conspiracy charge and three counts of failure to appear, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a plea agreement. The conspiracy charge stems from his previous guilty plea for fraud, while the failure to appear charges are new, according to the agreement.

Punishment

According to the plea agreement, Kimble is expected to serve 180 to 240 months in federal prison, but it’s up the judge’s discretion when it comes to sentencing.

Kimble could also face up to 3 years of supervised release connected to the conspiracy charge, while 1 year of supervised release is possible with each of the failure to appear plea counts, the agreement says.

Kimble is also responsible for making good on restitution, totaling $199,080,643.72 to Medicare, including $9 million at his sentencing, while also agreeing to cooperate fully with the government in identifying any additional victims and any additional assets, according to the plea agreement. He also agrees not to contest any forfeiture of assets, the plea agreement shows.

Crime

From 2014 through 2019, Kimble was the mastermind of a $1 billion Medicare fraud scheme of which key parts were carried out in South Carolina, The State previously reported. The scheme involved call centers in the Philippines, doctors and others who targeted the elderly and used their Medicare eligibility to buy medical equipment they didn’t need.

In 2019 deal, Kimble pleaded guilty in federal court in Columbia to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, violating the anti-kickback statute and defrauding the government.

But in 2024, when Kimble was to be sentenced for those crimes, he didn’t show up for his hearing in Columbia.

On Aug. 27, 2024, U.S. District Judge Joe Anderson ordered the immediate arrest of Kimble. But Kimble was beyond the law’s reach, about 7,000 miles from Columbia in the Philippines. Kimble’s lawyer, Columbia’s Jim Griffin, told the judge that’s where his client was, but assured Anderson that Kimble would be coming to court in Columbia in the next few weeks.

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Back in the US

It wasn’t until this year, when Kimble had be named to the FBI’s Most Wanted list, that he was deported back to the U.S.

“The FBI put a top 10 most wanted list for fraudsters out … and just days later, Kimble was in custody,” U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling said in June. “And about a week later, week and a half later, he was in court … in an orange jumpsuit, facing the music.”

Philippine law enforcement arrested Kimble June 11, FBI special agent Kevin Moore said in June. FBI agents from Columbia then escorted Kimble to South Carolina when he arrived back in the U.S.

Kimble is an American citizen but has family in the Philippines, which does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S. for fraud matters, The State previously reported. Information about why government officials in the Philippines cooperated now by deporting Kimble was not available.

Special assistant U.S. attorney Samantha Usher is the prosecutor on the case.

In addition to Griffin, Kimble’s lawyers include Maggie Fox and Catherine Hunter.

Prior to fleeing the U.S., Kimble provided information to the government that enabled investigators to make arrests and carry out prosecutions of others involved in the scheme, according to court filings. Because of his help, the government was able to charge some 80 defendants with health care offenses, prosecutors previously wrote in court filings in his case.

Staff reporter John Monk’s previous reporting on Kimble was used in this story.