WASHINGTON – Eight Miami-Dade County residents have been charged in a 16-count indictment for their alleged roles in a Medicare fraud scheme involving fake HIV infusion treatments, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Matthew Friedrich and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida R. Alexander Acosta announced today.
Federal and state Medicare Fraud Strike Force (MFSF) agents arrested seven individuals in Miami. Another charged individual was already in custody at the Miami Federal Correctional Institution, based on a Medicare fraud conviction from 2007.
After the arrests, the Sept. 24, 2008, indictment was unsealed charging one count of health care fraud conspiracy against Juan A. Marrero, a/k/a Tony Marrero; Orlando Pascual Jr.; Belkis Marrero; Dr. David Rothman; Luz Borrego; Dr. Keith Russell; Eda Milanes; and Jorge L. Pacheco. In addition to the conspiracy charge, Tony Marrero is charged with six counts of health care fraud, two counts of money-laundering conspiracy and four counts of money laundering. Pascual is also charged with six counts of health care fraud, two counts of money-laundering conspiracy and four counts of money laundering. Belkis Marrero is additionally charged with six counts of health care fraud, one count of money-laundering conspiracy and one count of money laundering. In addition to the conspiracy charge, Rothman and Borrego are each charged with four counts of health care fraud, and Milanes, Russell and Pacheco are each charged with two counts of health care fraud. The indictment also seeks forfeiture from all defendants.
According to the indictment, Tony Marrero, Pascual and Belkis Marrero controlled the day-to-day operations of two Miami medical clinics: Medcore Group LLC (Medcore) and M&P Group of South Florida Inc. (M&P). As medical assistants, Borrego (at Medcore), Pacheco (at M&P) and Milanes (at M&P) provided unneeded HIV infusion treatments to paid patients. The indictment charges that Pascual, Borrego and Milanes delivered cash payments to the patients. Furthermore, the indictment charges Rothman with ordering the unnecessary treatments at Medcore, and Russell with ordering the unnecessary treatments at M&P. Rothman and Russell allegedly conducted cursory examinations of the beneficiaries and signed the required documentation, including medical and billing records, to make it appear that the injection and infusion treatments billed by Medcore and M&P were medically necessary and provided, when, in fact, they were not.
Juan Marrero, Pascual, Belkis Marrero, Rothman and Borrego allegedly caused Medcore and M&P to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare for more than $5.3 million. The indictment alleges that the defendants laundered a portion of the proceeds to acquire the cash necessary to pay the patients.
The case is being prosecuted by Kirk Ogrosky, Deputy Chief, and John ("Jay") S. Darden, Senior Trial Attorney, of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Inspector General and the FBI. Since the inception of MFSF operations in 2007, federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., have indicted 104 cases with 184 defendants in Los Angeles and Miami. Collectively, these defendants fraudulently billed the Medicare program for more than half a billion dollars.
The case is a result of the operations by MFSF, a multi-agency team of federal, state and local prosecutors and agents designed specifically to combat Medicare fraud. Strike force operations began in the Miami area on March 1, 2007. The strike force teams are led by a federal prosecutor supervised by both the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section in Washington and the office of U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida. Each team has four to six agents, at least one agent from the FBI and HHS Office of Inspector General, as well as representatives of local law enforcement. The teams operate out of the federal Health Care Fraud Facility in Miramar, Fla.
An indictment is merely an allegation and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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