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Sylvia Salinas Ramirez, Wire Fraud, Texas 2013
Two area women have been convicted of wire fraud and conspiring to do so as part of a scheme to defraud the Texas Medicaid program through fraudulent home health billings.
Sylvia Salinas Ramirez, 52, and Debra Jean Velasquez, 41, were charged in a 14-count federal indictment returned on May 8, 2013. Today, they appeared before U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos and entered pleas of guilty to conspiring to submit false and fraudulent bills to the Texas Medicaid Program by wire transmissions as well as wire fraud for using interstate wire transmissions to bill.
The two women admitted that from or about Aug. 1, 2009, through on or about June 15, 2010, they were employed by the Corpus Christi office of MRNG Inc. doing business as Caring Touch Home Health. During that time, they conspired to submit false and fraudulent bills through wire transmissions to the Texas Medicaid program and the Medicaid funded managed care organizations known as Evercare of Texas LLC and Superior Health Plan Inc. for home health services that had not been provided.
Ramirez and Velasquez admitted they created false and fraudulent time sheets for former Caring Touch employees for home health services that had not been provided and then fraudulently billed Medicaid, Evercare and Superior in the name of Caring Touch for those non-existent services. They sent approximately 562 of those false and fraudulent bills by wire.
As a result of their false and fraudulent claims, Texas Medicaid, Evercare and Superior paid the approximate aggregate sum of $155,127.72. As part of their pleas, the women have agreed to pay restitution in that amount.
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud each carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in federal prison without parole as well as a possible $250,000 fine. Judge Ramos has set sentencing for Dec. 3, 2013. Ramirez and Velasquez were permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing.
The charges were the result of a joint investigation conducted by officers and agents of the Corpus Christi Police Department, the FBI, Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Special Assistant United States Attorney Rex Beasley and Assistant United States Attorney Jeffery Preston are prosecuting the case.
Sylvia Salinas Ramirez and Debra Jean Velasquez must face the consequences of their actions. With the amount of money involved in this scandal, it’s clear that their greed got the best of them. The Grimy Times will continue to follow this story and bring you updates as more information becomes available.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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