Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - September 8, 2006
Evan S. Benn, ebenn@MiamiHerald.com
Police arrested three Miami-Dade men on Medicaid fraud charges Thursday, a day after a federal judge sentenced two county men to prison for defrauding the government-sponsored healthcare program.
Arnaldo Iglesias, Jorge Fernandez-Romero and Alain Fernandez were charged with organized fraud and grand theft Thursday.
Iglesias, 31, used his former company, I. Cowan Medical Equipment and Supply, to bill Medicaid $121,000 for medical products, according to the state attorney general's office, which investigated the cases.
The supplies Iglesias ordered were not prescribed by the doctors whose names he put on Medicaid billing forms, investigators said.
Fernandez-Romero, 53, and Fernandez, 28, billed Medicaid for about $62,000 worth of prosthetic devices that never reached their intended patients, according to the attorney general's office. They are former owners of J.C. Medequip & Supplies.
The Miami-Dade state attorney's office is prosecuting the men.
Iglesias faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted, and the other two men each face up to 35 years.
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Savannah, Ga., sentenced a Coral Gables man to 18 years in prison and a Miami man to five years for their roles in a Medicaid fraud scheme.
Martin J. Bradley III, 41, of Coral Gables, received the longer sentence for his conviction for diverting prescription drugs so they could be sold on the black market, the attorney general's office said.
Alberto L. Tellechea, 39, was a co-conspirator in the scheme run by Miami-Dade pharmaceutical wholesaler Bio-Med Plus.
They were convicted of using Miami-Dade doctors to order prescription AIDS drugs and bill them to Medicaid. The drugs were either fraudulently rebilled or distributed to black markets in Florida, Georgia and Puerto Rico.
Bradley's father, Martin J. Bradley Jr., of Savannah, Ga., also was convicted in the scheme and was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison.
Prosecutors said the men stole about $50 million from various Medicaid programs. They were ordered Wednesday to repay $10.1 million to Florida Medicaid.
060908
MH060902
Copyright © 2006 - Miami Herald. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Miami Herald, Permissions, One Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132-1693 TEL: (305) 376-3719. http://www.herald.com.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2006. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2006. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .