A 39-year-old unlicensed nurse from Cape Coral, Florida, was sentenced to 108 months in prison for her role in a massive fraud scheme that netted over $11 million in false claims to Medicare.
Carmen Gonzalez worked at St. Jude Rehabilitation Center, a fraudulent HIV infusion clinic in Miami, that was controlled by her cousins, Jose, Carlos and Luis Benitez, aka the Benitez Brothers.
The sentencing follows her conviction at trial to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States to cause the submission of false claims and to pay health care kickbacks and one count of health care fraud.
Gonzalez had previously pleaded guilty to a separate charge of failure to appear at a June 2008 bond hearing.
The evidence at trial revealed that Gonzalez paid thousands of dollars over a five-month period to HIV beneficiaries so that St. Jude could submit millions of dollars in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.
Gonzalez was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Federico A. Moreno in Miami, who also sentenced her to serve three years of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
This case is a result of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which aims to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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