Leigh Tesar indicted in $118 million Medicare fraud scheme

Federal prosecutors have indicted Sarasota-based advanced practice registered nurse Leigh Tesar and registered nurses Walter Presha Jr. and Koby Evans for an alleged wound-care fraud scheme involving more than $118 million in false Medicare claims.

The indictment alleges that between May 2024 and November 2025, Medicare paid approximately $61 million to Tesar and Tesar Primecare. The prosecution outlines three primary methods of alleged misconduct: the use of expensive allografts in medically unnecessary circumstances, billing for skin graft applications that were never actually performed, and directing costly treatments toward terminally ill patients whose wounds were incapable of healing.

Additional allegations include the use of fabricated clinical documentation, patient-referral kickbacks, and improper inducements. Federal investigators have reportedly seized approximately $11.8 million from financial accounts linked to the case. All charges remain allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.