Press Release
THREE FORMER HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES CHARGED IN MULTIMILLION DOLLAR FRAUD
June 5, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Three former employees of Kendall Regional Medical Center ("KRMC"), a full-service hospital located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, were charged in an Information filed today with conspiring to defraud the KRMC of nearly $7 million through a sophisticated purchase order scheme, announced R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office. Specifically, the Information charges defendants Joanna Delfel, Victor Garcia, and Sylvia Oramas with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty years.
According to the Information, from 2001 through May 2007, the defendants, working with unindicted co-conspirators who held positions of authority at two medical supply companies, The Pharmed Group, Corp. ("Pharmed") and Allied Medical Products, Inc. ("AMP"), participated in a fraud scheme in which the defendants entered unauthorized and false purchase orders and delivery verifications into the computerized system used by KRMC for all of its medical supply orders and purchases. These entries made it appear as if almost $7 million in medical supplies had been ordered and delivered to KRMC by Pharmed and AMP. Based on these false purchase orders, KRMC's parent company, HCA, Inc. ("HCA"), paid Pharmed and AMP the full amount for the false supply orders. To funnel HCA's payments to the defendants and other uncharged co-conspirators, and to conceal the nature and source of the proceeds, the payments were transferred to two shell corporations, Soho Marketing, Inc. ("SoHo"), and Gator Sports Collectibles, Inc. ("Gator"), controlled by members of the conspiracy. Members of the conspiracy then issued checks from SoHo and Gator to the defendants and other members of the conspiracy and created fraudulent documents to disguise these payments as employee compensation.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Acosta also acknowledged the cooperative efforts of Kendall Regional Medical Center and its sister HCA affiliates for their assistance in this investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey E. Marcus and Ryan K. Stumphauzer.
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Information (PDF)
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