Marianela Martinez, Mireya Amechazurra, Lissett Jo-Moure, Omar Hernandez, and Celia Santovenia of Miami, Florida were arrested after they were accused of recruiting patients for a Medicare fraud scheme, a press release by the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of Florida indicates. Martinez, 45, Amechazurra, 49, Jo-Moure, 55, Hernandez, 48, and Santovenia, 49, were booked into police custody on two counts of receiving kickbacks in connection with a Federal health care program and one count of conspiracy to receive health care kickbacks. It is unclear whether they qualified for bail. The press did not specify attorneys for the defendants.
The offenses were reportedly committed in connection with Good Quality Home Health Inc. and Caring Nurse Home Health Care Corp., both Miami-based home health aid organizations. The indictment claims that between January 2006 and June 2011, Good Quality and Caring Nurse were accepting Medicare recipients at their clinic for at home therapy services and billing Medicare for the services. However, the patients either did not need the services or the services never occurred at all, the indictment says.
The clinics filed $48 million in fraudulent claims, according to the release; it is not clear how much money was actually dispersed. The owners of the two clinics, Rogelio Rodriguez and Raymond Aday, have already pled guilty to a count apiece of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, the release states. The pair was sentenced in February; Rodriguez will reportedly serve nine years in jail, while Aday will serve just over four years.
Martinez, Amechazurra, Jo-Moure, Hernandez, and Santovenia were allegedly recruiting patients for the clinic in return for kickbacks. The indictment filed against them alleges the defendants knew that Good Quality and Caring Nurse were fraudulently billing Medicare.
"An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence," the press release says. "A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until convicted." The release added that the "case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under supervision of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida."
Medicare fraud-related arrests seem to have hit a high note over the past few weeks. Earlier this month, Miami residents Mayelin Santoyo and Jose Martin Olivares were indicted for allegedly recruited patients to a clinic that was fraudulently billing Medicare, a U.S. Attorney press release shows. Olivares, 36, and Santoyo, 28, were taken into custody on charges of receiving illegal health care kickbacks, conspiring to defraud the United States, and receiving health care kickbacks. It is unclear if they made bail or hired legal representation.