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MIAMI HOME HEALTH SCAM LANDS OWNER 108 MONTHS IN PRISON
Marietha Morales, 38, owner of Prime Home Health Services Inc., was sentenced to 108 months in prison for her role in a $22 million Medicare fraud scheme. Her employee, Eduardo Saborit-Dominguez, 48, received a 46-month prison sentence.
The scheme, which ran from February 2005 through April 2011, involved billing Medicare for unnecessary home health care and therapy services. Morales and her co-conspirators paid kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters in exchange for Medicare beneficiary information and prescriptions for medically unnecessary services.
Morales and her team falsified patient files to make it appear as though beneficiaries qualified for home health care and therapy services, when in reality, they did not. The scheme resulted in Medicare paying out approximately $14 million in false claims, with Morales and her co-conspirators submitting approximately $22 million in fraudulent claims.
In addition to their prison sentences, Morales and Dominguez were ordered to pay $14 million and $2 million in restitution, respectively. The sentences were handed down by U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz in Miami.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the HHS Office of Inspector General, and brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Since its inception in 2007, the strike force has charged over 1,330 defendants who have collectively falsely billed the Medicare program for over $4 billion.
Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division praised the work of the investigators and prosecutors in bringing the case to light. ‘This case demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to protecting the integrity of the Medicare program and holding accountable those who would seek to defraud it,’ he said.
The case serves as a reminder of the importance of vigilance in preventing and detecting healthcare fraud. The HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers in the system.
RELATED: Mother and Daughter Get Prison in Elder Fraud Scam
RELATED: Nursing Home Aide Rips Off Elderly in $500K Fraud
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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