$20 million Florida fraud scheme ends in eight arrests
Compliance Monitor, July 1, 2009
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The Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Florida arrested eight Miami-Dade County, FL residents June 26, who were connected to an alleged $22 million fraud scheme, according to a press release from the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of Florida.
Gladys Zambrana, Javier Zambrana, Enrique Perez, Alejandro Hernandez Quiros (aka Alex Hernandez), Vanessa Estrada, Vicenta Tellechea, Modesto Hidalgo, and Carlos Castaneda were all charged with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in an indictment unsealed Friday. The defendants allegedly operated the fraud scheme out of Miami businesses purporting to specialize in home healthcare.
According to the press release, the defendants operated two different home healthcare agencies that supposedly catered to Medicare beneficiaries. The indictment alleges that both agencies recruited beneficiaries and paid them kickbacks and bribes to obtain their beneficiary numbers and file claims for services.
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force is a multi-agency team of federal, state and local investigators designed to combat Medicare fraud through the use of Medicare data analysis techniques and an increased focus on community policing.
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