Four Sentenced For $126 million Florida Healthcare Fraud

Four individuals were sentenced on October 29, 2015 in Florida Federal court for their roles in a large complex scheme to rip off the city of Miami, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and numerous major companies for approximately $126 million in false healthcare claims.

The four major defendants in the case were Hendris Castillo Morales, 33, of Miami; Maite Garcia, 40, of Hialeah; Osvaldo Marin Medina, 48, of Hialeah; and Alejandro Biart, 40, of Miami. They were among 15 individuals who have pled guilty, out of 18 charged in connection with the scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert N. Scola handed down prison terms to Castillo for a total of 121 months and Garcia for 48 months. Prosecutors stated that Castillo and Garcia were among four defendants who owned and controlled 30 companies at the heart of the scheme in the Miami area. According to prosecutors, the two used medical director staging companies to misappropriate doctors’ licensing information, which they used to submit false claims to insurers.

Judge Scola set a requirement for both Castillo and Garcia of three years of supervised release. They were also ordered to pay more than $13.8 million in restitution.

In a separate case, U.S. District Judge Urusla Ungaro sentenced both Biart and Medina to 41 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Biart was accused of accepting kickbacks from other defendants in return for referring Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and United Healthcare beneficiaries to medical clinics controlled by Castillo, Garcia and co-defendants Rynaldo Castillo and Lizbet Castillo Batista.

Medina was accused of accepting payments in return for allowing his name to be used to incorporate clinics, open bank accounts and cash checks received from Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and United Healthcare.

Click here to read article.