Elizabeth Monteagudo, Home Health Medicare Fraud, Florida 2013

A Florida woman has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for her role in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

Elizabeth Monteagudo, 33, of Miami, was sentenced on

for her participation in the scheme, which involved recruiting patients for Miami health care companies and soliciting and receiving kickbacks and bribes from the owners and operators of the companies.

Monteagudo also pleaded guilty to receiving kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program.

According to court documents, Monteagudo and co-defendant Cristobal Gonzalez, 39, of Miami, recruited patients for Caring Nurse Home Health Care Corp. and Good Quality Home Health Care Inc., two Miami home health care agencies that purported to provide home health and therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries.

The Medicare beneficiaries were billed for home health care and therapy services that were medically unnecessary and/or not provided.

The scheme, which lasted from approximately January 2009 through approximately June 2011, resulted in approximately $48 million in fraudulent claims being submitted to Medicare, with approximately $33 million being paid out in false claims.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

Monteagudo was also ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution jointly and severally with co-defendants.

In a related case, Rogelio Rodriguez and Raymond Aday, the owners and operators of Caring Nurse and Good Quality, were sentenced to 108 and 51 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the scheme.

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