Miami, Florida – Isabel Medina, 49, of Miami, pleaded guilty today in connection with multiple health care fraud schemes involving the defunct clinic Merfi Corp.
Medina, an owner and operator of Merfi, a Miami medical clinic, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro of the Southern District of Florida to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
According to court documents, Medina and her co-conspirators provided fraudulent home health and therapy prescriptions and other medical documentation to the owners and operators of Flores Home Health Care Inc. and other home health care agencies, as well as to patient recruiters, in return for kickbacks and bribes.
Flores Home Health and these other home health care agencies purported to provide home health and therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries, but were in fact operated for the purpose of billing the Medicare program for, among other things, expensive physical therapy and home health care services that were not medically necessary and/or not provided.
Medina has acknowledged that her involvement in fraudulent schemes at multiple home health care companies, including Flores Home Health, resulted in losses to the Medicare Program exceeding $20 million.
The case is being 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.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion.
Sentencing has been scheduled for March 14, 2014.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Health Care Fraud
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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