Miami DME Clinic Owner Sentenced to 70 Months for $11M Fraud

MIAMI – Francisco Enrique Chavez, the former owner of a defunct durable medical equipment (DME) clinic, was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison for his role in an $11 million health care fraud scheme.

The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz in the Southern District of Florida, also includes three years of supervised release and a restitution order of $1,713,959. Chavez, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud on Nov. 21, 2013.

Chavez was the president and sole corporate officer of World Class Medical Clinic Corp., which operated from March 27, 2006, through Aug. 22, 2006. During this period, he submitted approximately $11.3 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for DME that was neither prescribed by a physician nor medically necessary.

Medicare paid over $1.7 million on these fraudulent claims, with the proceeds funneled into corporate bank accounts under Chavez’s control. He then made numerous cash withdrawals and deposits into personal and shell entity bank accounts to conceal the scheme.

The investigation was led by the FBI and HHS-OIG as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Since its inception, this force has charged over 1,700 defendants who collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion in false claims.

For more information on health care fraud prevention and enforcement, visit www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.