Press Release
MIAMI MEDICAL EQUIPMENT OWNERS SENTENCED TO PRISON ON $1.3 MILLION MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME
May 29, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alice Fisher, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Melody Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Atlanta Division, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today's sentencing of defendants, Marcos Martinez and Elsa Dominguez, both durable medical equipment (DME) supply company owners.
United States District Court Judge Federico A. Moreno sentenced defendant Marcos Martinez earlier today to sixty-three (63) months' imprisonment for defrauding Medicare. Martinez's wife, Elsa Dominguez, was sentenced to five (5) years probation, special condition six (6) months home confinement, $1,360,000 in restitution for her role in the scheme. Judge Moreno also ordered Martinez to serve three (3) years supervised release upon his release from prison and to pay $1,360,000 in restitution to Medicare.
According to the evidence, from August 2003 through June of 2005, Martinez's DME company, Carib Med Services of Miami, submitted thousands of false claims to Medicare seeking reimbursement for medically unnecessary equipment. Martinez paid more than a hundred Medicare beneficiaries $100-$350 a month to use their Medicare numbers to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare. After paying for the beneficiaries' Medicare numbers, Martinez would pay Florida licensed physician Julian Torres to write bogus prescriptions for the medically unnecessary DME. Dr. Torres is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Moreno on June 25. To avoid detection, Martinez placed his company and its bank accounts in Dominguez's name and she assisted Martinez in the scheme.
During the course of the conspiracy, Martinez paid more than $280,000 in kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries and Dr. Torres. Additionally, Martinez received more than $180,000 in kickbacks from Miami pharmacies in exchange for the referral of sham prescriptions for medicine to the pharmacies.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Deputy Chief Kirk Ogrosky, Trial Attorneys Jeffrey A. Neiman and Robert DeConti in the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
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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