Post by Scumhunter on Nov 3, 2019 3:26:06 GMT -5
(Above photo credits: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services- Office of Inspector General website)
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)- Office of Inspector General (OIG) website):
In August 2006, couple Aiza Rodriguez and Daniel Guerra were indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, commit healthcare fraud, and pay kickbacks; healthcare fraud; conspiracy to commit money laundering; and money laundering. Investigators believe that Rodriguez and Guerra received more than $9 million in Medicare reimbursement for durable medical equipment (DME) that either was medically unnecessary or was never delivered to a qualified Medicare beneficiary.
Rodriguez owned the DME company, Brickell Orthopedic Store, Inc., while Guerra owned the DME company, Stephanie Medical Supplies, Corporation. Both companies were based in Miami, Florida. According to the indictment, Guerra and Rodriguez paid kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters in return for providing their companies with Medicare beneficiaries whom they could use to bill Medicare. The beneficiaries were also paid and bribed in exchange for their Medicare identification numbers along with their prescriptions for DME and related services.
The defendants fraudulently completed Medicare-required orthotic measurement forms for DME without an orthotist or orthotic fitter ever having measured a patient. Guerra and Rodriguez then forged the signatures of doctors on DME prescriptions and paid doctors to sign blank certificates of medical necessity.
Rodriguez and Guerra fled the United States shortly after a warrant was issued for their arrest. They resided outside Madrid, Spain, until they were incarcerated. U.S. authorities are currently working with the Spanish Government to have the couple extradited to the United States to face charges stemming from their indictment.
oig.hhs.gov/fraud/fugitives/profiles.asp#guerra (scroll down for Guerra/Rodriguez)
Thoughts? As of this posting date (11/3/2019), Guerra and Rodriguez are still on the HHS-OIG website as wanted fugitives. As of the aforementioned posting date, Guerra is also one of the HHS-OIG's Top 10 Most Wanted fugitives: oig.hhs.gov/fraud/fugitives/
Admin Note #1: According to the HHS-OIG website, anyone having information on these fugitives should report a tip via the following link: tips.oig.hhs.gov/report-a-fugitive/create-complaint
Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form