Doctor charged in transvaginal mesh fraud

Manufacturers, including Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson, eventually reached agreements to settle many of those lawsuits.

In the indictment unsealed on Friday, prosecutors said that Walker and Barber sought to profit from women who had their mesh implants removed and were entitled to larger settlement payments under those agreements than women who did not.

Walker, Barber and others persuaded women to have their mesh implants removed by lying to them about the health risks they posed, and told them they would have to travel to have the procedure done by specific doctors, including Walker, prosecutors said.

Barber's companies funded the surgeries, either by purchasing the women's medical debts or making direct loans, allowing them to collect money from any settlements received by the women, prosecutors said. Some of the funding agreements included "exorbitant" interest rates and left the women on the hook even if they never received a settlement, according to the indictment.

Walker paid kickbacks and bribes to Barber in exchange for referrals to perform the surgeries, according to prosecutors.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month ordered the two remaining companies selling transvaginal mesh, Boston Scientific and Coloplast A/S, to halt sales of the product, citing safety concerns.