Arnaldo Rosario, Medicare Fraud, Michigan 2009

A patient recruiter has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme that attempted to defraud the program of more than $15 million.

Arnaldo Rosario, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen in the Eastern District of Michigan for his role in the scheme, which involved three Detroit-area clinics: Sacred Hope Medical Center Inc., Dearborn Medical Rehabilitation Center Inc. (DMRC), and Xpress Center Inc. (XPC).

Rosario pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud on August 18, 2009. According to court documents, he admitted to overseeing and facilitating the payment of cash kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries who visited the clinics. In exchange for the cash kickbacks, the beneficiaries would sign documents falsely indicating that they had received services that were then billed to Medicare.

Rosario admitted to obtaining cash on a daily basis from his co-conspirators to pay the beneficiaries cash kickbacks. After obtaining the cash, he would distribute the money to several other co-defendants who were responsible for recruiting and paying the kickbacks to the beneficiaries. Rosario also admitted to being directed to pay bonuses to the co-defendants if they were able to recruit additional Medicare beneficiaries to come to the clinics.

The scheme caused the submission of approximately $15.3 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for services supposedly provided at Sacred Hope, DMRC, and XPC. Based on the fraudulent claims, Medicare paid approximately $10,765,325.

Rosario was sentenced to 27 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $10,765,325 in restitution, jointly and severally with other defendants in the case. This sentence was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade, Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the HHS Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Chicago Regional Office.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief Benjamin D. Singer and Trial Attorney Gejaa T. Gobena of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Neal of the Eastern District of Michigan. The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

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