Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - April 3, 2008
Jay Weaver, jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
The ring allegedly carried out its scam on the government's elderly healthcare insurance program by paying kickbacks of $100 to $150 to each Medicare patient who visited a Miami clinic, Saint Jude Rehab Center Inc., at 330 SW 27th Ave., prosecutors said.
In exchange, the patients signed the clinic's logs stating they had received treatments that were billed to Medicare, according to the indictment. But, in fact, they had not received such treatments, the indictment said.
Saint Jude's Dr. Ana Alvarez allegedly ordered unnecessary tests, signed medical forms and authorized treatments to make it appear that legitimate medical services were being provided to HIV patients receiving Medicare benefits.
The clinic's take during the alleged 2003 fraud conspiracy: more than $8 million paid by Medicare.
The defendants named in the indictment are Alvarez, 54, Mariela Rodriguez, 39, Aisa Perera, 42, Beatriz Delgado, 48, Angel Rodriguez, 40, Sandra Mateos, 43, and Carmen Gonzalez, 33.
They were charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and other offenses.
A former doctor at St. Jude, Orestes-Alvarez Jacinto pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
In a related case, Rita Campos Ramirez, the medical biller for Saint Jude and other HIV infusion therapy clinics, pleaded guilty last year to a $170 million conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.
On Wednesday, Campos Ramirez was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
She was also ordered to pay $105 million in restitution to Health and Human Services, which oversees the Medicare program.
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