Press Release
CHIROPRACTOR AND TWO OTHERS CHARGED IN MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME
October 09, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael E. Yasofsky, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, and Alex Sink, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, announced a superseding indictment, returned on October 7, 2008, that added chiropractor Jacqueline Gonzalez, 34, of Miami Beach, FL, to the existing case against co-defendants Mike Williams Tosca Martinez, 47, of Oakland Park, FL, and Nhon Nguyen, 37, of Fort Lauderdale, FL, who were first indicted on June 17, 2008. Defendant Gonzalez made her initial appearance in federal court today.
The charges stem from the defendants’ operation of The No More Pain Center, Inc., United Chiropractic Center of Florida, Inc., Froward Care Medical Center, Inc., Froward Care Chiropractic Center, Inc., North Miami Beach Health Center, Inc., Spine Relief Center, and Miramar Spine Relief Center. The superseding indictment alleges that the defendants solicited automobile accident victims and persons involved in “staged” accidents to file fraudulent insurance claims on non-existent and exaggerated personal injuries. The defendants allegedly caused claims to be submitted to insurance companies that resulted in payments of more than $3 million.
More specifically, the superseding indictment charges defendant Martinez, Nguyen, and Gonzalez with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1349; defendants Martinez and Nguyen are charged with 13 counts and defendant Gonzalez is charged with 3 counts of health care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1347; all three defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1956(h) ; all three are charged with substantive money laundering counts (Martinez: 23 counts, Nguyen: 3 counts and Gonzalez 3 counts), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957(a) ; Martinez is individually charged with one count of fraudulent use of a Social Security number, in violation of 42 U.S.C. §408(a)(7)(B); Gonzalez is individually charged with three counts of making false statements relating to health care matters, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1035.
If convicted, Martinez faces maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment for each of counts 1-39, and 5 years’ imprisonment for Count 43. Nguyen faces maximum sentences of 10 years’ imprisonment for each of Counts 1-15, 19, 20 and 31. Gonzalez faces maximum sentences of 10 years’ imprisonment for each of Counts 1, 4-6 and 37-39, and 5 years’ imprisonment for each of counts 40-42.
United States Attorney Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service, the Florida Department of Financial Services–Division of Insurance Fraud, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau for investigating this case. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Harry C. Wallace, Jr.
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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