San Diego Teacher, Maria Elena Garcia, Medicare Fraud, California 2018

⏱ 3 min read

A San Diego teacher’s alleged scheme to scam Medicare has landed her in hot water. Jeanett Valenzuela Ayub, a former teacher, pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to launder millions of dollars in health care fraud proceeds.

The scam involved billing Medicare nearly $51 million for bogus prescriptions and was paid approximately $20 million, with at least $14 million laundered and $3.7 million in unlawful kickbacks paid out.

Ayub and her co-conspirators owned and operated multiple durable medical equipment companies, selling orthotics to Medicare beneficiaries. But here’s the catch: the prescriptions were signed by physicians who had no legitimate doctor-patient relationship with the beneficiary, and the prescriptions were often bogus.

Medicare beneficiaries who were interviewed during the investigation said they never spoke with a doctor, were never examined, and were not familiar with the prescribing doctor. Many of them still had the DME in storage, unused and unopened.

Ayub’s plea agreement will come back to haunt her, with authorities looking to bring her to justice for her role in the massive Medicare scam.

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

White Collar Crime

Georgia Right-Of-Way, Wire Fraud, South Carolina 1991

Jan 15, 1991

White Collar Crime

Curtis Collins, Asbestos Abatement Fraud, New York 2009

Dec 6, 2006

White Collar Crime

Ramirez Cagua, Wire Fraud, Connecticut 2024

Jan 15, 2024

White Collar Crime

Izquierdo Arroyo, Wire Fraud, New York 2009

Jan 15, 2009