Martin Tasis, Medicare Fraud, Michigan 2007

Two owners of a fraudulent Detroit-area medical clinic, Martin Tasis and Joaquin Tasis, and a man who helped them launder the proceeds of the fraud, Leoncio Alayon, were convicted today by a federal jury in Detroit for their roles in a $9.1 million Medicare fraud scheme.

According to evidence presented during the one-week trial, Martin and Joaquin Tasis were owners of Dearborn Rehabilitation and Medical Center (DMRC), a fraudulent HIV-infusion therapy clinic located in Dearborn, Mich. The Tasis brothers oversaw the payment of kickbacks to patients whose Medicare information was then used by DMRC to fraudulently bill Medicare for treatments they never received.

Evidence showed that DMRC, an outpatient clinic that purported to specialize in infusion and injection therapy, was established for the sole purpose of defrauding Medicare. Between November 2005 and March 2007, DMRC billed approximately $9.1 million in claims to Medicare for injection therapy services that were never provided and were not medically necessary. Medicare paid approximately $6 million of those claims.

The Tasis brothers used Alayon and a bogus “research” company to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds of the fraud. Evidence presented at trial showed that the Tasis brothers and their co-conspirators helped relocate the highly lucrative infusion therapy fraud scheme from South Florida to Michigan after increased law enforcement scrutiny in South Florida.

Evidence at trial showed that Medicare beneficiaries were not referred to DMRC by their primary care physicians, or for any other legitimate medical purpose, but rather were recruited to come to the clinic through the payment of cash kickbacks. DMRC then billed Medicare for expensive medications, purportedly given to treat HIV and Hepatitis-C, which were never administered. For example, evidence at trial showed that DMRC billed $9.1 million to Medicare, but purchased only $36,000 in medication and medical supplies.

A sentencing date for the Tasis brothers and Alayon has not yet been scheduled by the court. Each count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud and money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The conspiracy to commit money laundering count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, and the conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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