Corporate Compliance

Michigan woman pleads guilty to $6.5M Medicare fraud scheme

Compliance Monitor, September 9, 2009

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Denver native, Lil Vargas-Arias, 46, pleaded guilty at Detroit’s U.S. District court for defrauding the Medicare program at two separate Michigan clinics, Sacred Hope and Xpress Center Inc. (XPC), according to a Department of Justice press release. Vargas-Arias faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

 

During her guilty plea, Vargas-Arias admitted she routinely billed Medicare for unnecessary services and falsely prescribed medications to patients. She prescribed patients medicine not based on their health benefits, but on what medications generated the highest reimbursements from Medicare.

 

Between September 2006 and March 2007, Vargas-Arias and her co-conspirators submitted approximately $6,577,899 worth in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare while working at Sacred Hope and XPC. About $4,931,428 of those claims were reimbursed by Medicare.



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