Jose Garcia, Medicare Fraud, Florida 2024
Jose Garcia, 55, a fugitive since 2008, was taken into federal custody yesterday at Miami International Airport, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS).
Garcia self-surrendered to FBI agents upon arrival in Miami. He appeared in federal court in Miami today, where U.S. Magistrate Judge William C. Turnoff ordered him detained pending the resolution of the charges against him.
Garcia and his co-defendant, Nayda Freire, were charged in 2008 with allegedly conspiring between April 2003 and November 2003 to submit approximately $10.9 million in false and fraudulent claims to the Medicare program for HIV infusion services allegedly provided at Global Med-Care Corp., an HIV infusion clinic operated by Garcia and Freire.
According to the indictment, Garcia, Freire and their co-conspirators allegedly retained and trained physicians and physicians' assistants as part of the scheme at Global Med-Care to make it appear that legitimate HIV infusion and medical services were being provided. The indictment also alleges that Garcia and Freire laundered the proceeds of their crimes by sending the proceeds to sham management and marketing companies owned and controlled by their co-conspirators.
The charges against Garcia include one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, to cause the submission of false claims to the Medicare program and to pay health care kickbacks; one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud; one count of conspiracy to launder the proceeds of their crimes; and four counts of money laundering. Garcia also was charged with four counts of submitting false claims to the Medicare program.
Nayda Freire, Garcia's co-defendant, pleaded guilty on Aug. 28, 2008, to one count of conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, and was sentenced on Nov. 12, 2008, by U.S. District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan to 30 months in prison. In addition to the prison term, Judge Jordan sentenced Freire to two years of supervised release following her release from prison and ordered her to pay $7,992,391 in restitution to the Medicare program.
The indictment also alleges that Freire and others conspired to file $10.9 million in false claims to the Medicare program for HIV infusion services that were not provided and were not medically necessary. In addition, court documents explain how the patients were paid cash kickbacks in return for agreeing to allow Global Med-Care to bill Medicare for the unneeded services.
Garcia and Freire were charged with participating in a scheme to submit false claims to the Medicare program, as well as conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering. The indictment alleges that Garcia and Freire laundered the proceeds of their crimes by sending the proceeds to sham management and marketing companies owned and controlled by their co-conspirators.
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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