Juan Carlos Avila, Hector Gutierrez, Ovide Miguez, Caridad Menendez Diaz, and Aracelys Cruz of Miami-Dade, Florida were arrested Tuesday after they allegedly filed fraudulent insurance claims, news sources report. An arrest warrant was issued for Elvis Garcia, who played a role in the scheme, as well. Each of the defendants were booked into police custody on multiple charges, including filing false insurance claims, patient-brokering, organized scheme to defraud, and grand theft. It is unclear whether they qualified for bail bond. Reports did not specify a href="http://www.defense-florida.com/">defense attorney for any of the defendants.
According to reports, the fraud occurred at AZJ Medical Center in Westchester. Elvis Garcia was the clinic's president; Miguez was an occupational therapist at the clinic; Gutierrez worked as a physical therapy assistant at the clinic; and Diaz and Cruz were clinic staff members whose duties were not specified in reports. It appears the clinic may have shut down in light of the fraud allegations. Staff members from the clinic have so far remained mum regarding the charges.
Reports say the clinic recruited public transit employees to participate in the scheme, though it is not clear why public transit employees were targeted specifically. These employees allegedly agreed to sign papers documenting false medical visits in order to defraud AvMed Inc., a tax-funded Miami-Dade County insurance company. Last year, Miami-Dade investigators arrested seven county bus employees for their role in the alleged fraud. Since then, six of the bus employees have pled guilty to fraud charges and have agreed to assist detectives in the investigation of the clinic's employees.
One transit employee allegedly assisted the clinic in filing insurance claims for 135 visits and 758 treatments, even though the employee only received several massages at the clinic. A different transit worker signed various blank medical documents that allowed the clinic to file for insurance claims on hundreds of bogus treatments and over 30 fake visits. Detectives say the clinic paid transit employees participating in the scheme for recruiting additional public transit workers to take part in the fraud.
Nancy Maradey, a county transit employee, participated in the alleged scheme last year, reports say. Maradey told investigators that the clinic offered her an excess of $6,000 to sign her name on fraudulent claims for treatments and to recruit more fake patients. Detectives later learned that the clinic filed insurance claims for treatments on Maradey's sprained knee, though Maradey admits she never received those treatments.