U.S. Department of Justice FIVE PHYSICIANS AND ONE CLINIC OWNER CHARGED IN INFUSION FRAUD MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SCHEME R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, State of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today the arrests made on June 19, 2008 of defendants Esther Romeu, a Miami health clinic owner, and five South Florida physicians on charges of defrauding the Medicare and Medicaid programs of more than $15 million. The physicians charged are Walter F. Proano, of Miramar, FL, Manuel Barbeite, of Miami, FL, Alejandro Enrique Casuso, of Miami, FL, Carmen Lourdes Del Cueto, of Miami, FL, and Marco Tulio Molinares, of Miami, FL, all licensed to practice in Florida and employed by Romeu. All six defendants made their initial appearance in federal court today. The court set bond at $175,000 corporate surety as to each defendant. According to the Indictment, defendant Romeu owned and operated Diagnostic Medical Choice, Inc., located at 85 Grand Canal Drive, in Miami. The doctors were employed at that clinic. All are alleged to have devised and executed an elaborate scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid regarding costly treatments for HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that the defendants billed the Medicare and Florida Medicaid programs approximately $19,580 for IVIG medications, and received payments of more than $15,900,000 from January 2003 through July 2006. These arrests are the culmination of a joint investigation by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Federal Bureau of Investigation into suspicious billing patterns for costly Intravenous Immune Globulin (“IVIG”) medications used to treat HIV/AIDS-related conditions. Established medical procedures dictate that IVIG medications are to be administered once a month, with careful monitoring of the patient’s blood count and detailed reports on the infusions. The defendants are alleged to have billed as if they were administering these infusions to the patients three times a week, in some cases for several years, and without any of the necessary lab work or infusion reports. IVIG drugs in the frequency alleged is medically inappropriate and would have endangered patients’ health. U.S. Attorney Acosta stated, “This joint investigation and prosecution is the result of the cooperation between our state and federal government in the fight against rampant health care fraud in Florida. Frauds such as this not only waste scarce Medicare and Medicaid dollars, but pose serious risk to patient health and well-being. We remained committed to the aggressive prosecution of health care fraud.” “This case is particularly egregious because of the magnitude of the fraud involved,” said Attorney General McCollum. “Not only did these physicians fail to meet even minimal standards for monitoring or treating HIV, they apparently allowed their greed to bilk the system out of millions of dollars that could have been used to help other patients in need.” All defendants are charged with various counts of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and substantive health care fraud violations. Each defendant faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count in which they are named. Mr. Acosta commended the cooperative efforts of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Leclair. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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