Miami Herald - Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Jay Weaver, jweaver@MiamiHerald.com

"The business owner became suspicious because he kept saying he was Mexican but the owner detected he had a heavy Cuban accent," said FBI special agent Judy Orihuela.

So, the owner Googled his name on the Internet and up popped a Miami Herald/El Nuevo article published in January that described Garcia as a Cuban-born fugitive wanted on Medicare fraud charges in South Florida. The story, which carried a mug shot of Garcia, confirmed his identity. The owner called the FBI in Miami with an anonymous tip and case agent Robert Cessario contacted the bureau's legal attache in Madrid.

Garcia later checked into a hotel in the capital city, using his real name and a false Mexican passport. The Spanish National Police did a background check and arrested him on a provisional FBI warrant in mid-March.

Garcia, a 44-year-old Cuban national who waived extradition, was flown to Miami last week to face charges -- again -- of submitting $10.7 million in false claims to Medicare between 2002 and 2004. The federal healthcare program paid $2.2 million to his Hialeah medical equipment business, before his initial arrest last June.

Just days before his trial in September, Garcia, who had a $200,000 bond, fled from Miami. He traveled to Mexico, then Spain, then the Canary Islands, on the false Mexican passport. Initially, the FBI thought he had escaped to his native Cuba.

Garcia, whose bond was revoked, pleaded not guilty Monday to the fugitive charge. His lawyer, George Vila, could not be reached for comment.

In court papers, prosecutor Daniel Bernstein said Garcia submitted his false Medicare claims for powered air mattresses, feeding pumps and other equipment through All-Med Billing Corp. It was headed by a Miami Lakes couple convicted last year after filing $420 million in phony claims on behalf of 85 medical equipment companies in South Florida. Garcia's fugitive profile is by no means unusual. Since 2004, he's been on a list of some 60 defendants who have escaped from South Florida to evade prosecution on Medicare fraud charges -- the vast majority Cuban nationals who arrived in this country during the past 15 years. At least half have fled to Cuba, but others have gone to other Latin American countries, Canada and Europe.

Collectively, Garcia and the other Medicare fugitives billed the U.S. government's health insurance program about $404 million in fraudulent claims and were paid $156 million, according to court records. Their rackets have ranged from medical equipment supplies to infusion therapy for HIV patients.

In general, the FBI has had little luck capturing Medicare fugitives abroad in recent years, especially in Cuba, which has no normal diplomatic relations with the United States.

The last break came in January, when authorities in the Dominican Republic extradited a former Miami-Dade bank teller, Michelle Torres. She was charged with money laundering in 2007 and fled to her native country, according to the FBI. Torres, 31, allegedly accepted bribes from the convicted ringleader of a $48 million Medicare fraud network in exchange for cashing his medical equipment companies' checks.

After she fled, Torres went to work as a teller for a bank in Santo Domingo, where fellow employees confronted her after spotting her photo in a gallery of Medicare fraud fugitives on The Miami Herald's website. She then told the bank manager about her past, which led to her surrender to the FBI. Torres is awaiting trial.

Previously, in June 2004, authorities in the Dominican Republic turned over three Medicare fugitives -- Ruben Martinez; his daughter, Adriana Ramos, and her husband, Daniel Ramos -- who had fled to that country months before their indictment on fraud charges.

The three Cuban nationals were part of a Miami-Dade family racket headed by Martinez, all of whom were eventually convicted of bilking $14.5 million from Medicare by charging for bogus medical equipment orders such as hospital beds, oxygen tanks and foot arch supports in 2000-02.

Federal authorities recovered $1 million from Dominican bank accounts, $900,000 from U.S. banks, real estate, jewelry and a Porsche Boxster.

090519
090510

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2009. 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, 2009. 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. .