Press Release
MIAMI MEDICAL DOCTOR SENTENCED TO 78 MONTHS IN PRISON IN AIDS CLINIC FRAUD SCHEME
April 17, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announce today's sentencing of defendant Frantz Achille, a medical doctor, who was previously convicted in connection with a $2.1 million Medicare billing fraud scheme involving two related Miami AIDS clinics.
In January 2007, a Miami jury found Frantz Achille guilty of one count of health care fraud conspiracy and five counts of health care fraud. In 2005, Achille was listed as a medical doctor at two Miami-based HIV clinics. During that time, Achille and his co-conspirators falsified medical paperwork and then received more than $2.1 million in payments from Medicare for expensive HIV treatment and medications. In most cases, the patients never needed or received any treatment and had in fact been recruited and paid to come to the clinics and sign various Medicare-required patient forms.
United States District Judge K. Michael Moore sentenced Achille to a 78 month term of imprisonment for his role in the health care fraud scheme. Judge Moore enhanced Achille's sentence by more than two years after finding Achille obstructed the investigation by lying to Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and for creating a substantial risk of harm to the HIV and AIDS patients in Achille's care. Witnesses at trial testified that Achille routinely prescribed toxic, and potentially lethal doses, of medications to Medicare patients for the sole purpose of defrauding the Medicare program.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney William J. Parente Jr., of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Luis M. Perez.
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 http://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 http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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