The Medicare Fraud Strike Force has indicted eight Miami-Dade County residents on 16 counts of Medicare fraud involving fake HIV infusion treatments, according to Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Matthew Friedrich and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida R. Alexander Acosta.
The Sept. 24, 2008 indictment charged Juan A. Marrero, a/k/a Tony Marrero, Orlando Pascual Jr., Belkis Marrero, David Rothman, Luz Borrego, Keith Russell, Eda Milanes and Jorge L. Pacheco with one count of healthcare fraud conspiracy. Other charges included money laundering and conspiring to launder money.
The indictment also seeks forfeiture from all defendants.
According to the indictment, the Marreros and Pascual controlled the day-to-day operations of two Miami medical clinics, Medcore Group LLC and M&P Group of South Florida, Inc. As medical assistants, Borrego, Pacheco and Milanes ordered and provided unneeded HIV infusion treatments to patients and allegedly delivered cash payments to those patients for their roles.
The Marreros, Pascual, Rothman and Borrego have been accused of causing Medcore and M&P to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare for more than $5.3 million. The indictment alleges that the defendants laundered a portion of the proceeds to acquire the cash necessary to pay the patients.
Since the inception of MFSF operations in 2007, federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., have indicted 104 cases with 184 defendants in Los Angeles and Miami. Collectively, these defendants fraudulently billed the Medicare program for more than half a billion dollars.