Category Archives: White Collar Crime
Miami Therapists Sentenced for $63 Million Scheme
The FBI recently announced that a Miami doctor and several therapists involved in the Health Care Solutions Network scam have been sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms. Dr. Roger Rousseau received 192 months as a guest of the Bureau of Prisons, as did therapist Liliana Marks. Therapists Doris Crabtree and Angela Salafia were each… Read More »
South Florida’s New Home Health Agency Ban Extended
Due in part to South Florida’s status and reputation as the number one place for organized fraud in the country, specifically health care fraud, a federal moratorium on new home health agencies has been extended. Under current federal health care law, a temporary ban can be put in place to prevent the enrollment of… Read More »
Adventist Health Reaches Huge Fraud Settlement
In what is being called the largest settlement ever reached in a health care fraud case relating to hospitals’ relationship with doctors, Adventist Health System has agreed to settle the claims for $118.7 million. The fraud claims stem from a white-collar lawsuit alleging the hospital violated a federal law that limits the financial relationships… Read More »
Governor Scott Wants Audits of Medicaid-Managed Contracts
In an arguably surprising move, Governor Rick Scott wants many hospitals in the state to undergo random audits of their Medicaid contracts. This decision comes hand in hand with the state’s desire to investigate nearly 130 hospitals to ensure they are not violating Florida law. The governor has specifically asked the state Department of… Read More »
Mortgage Fraud Leads to Prison Sentence
When mortgage companies defraud the federal government or the state, they incur huge risks. One Miami-area mortgage company owner recently learned that lesson the hard way. Hector Hernandez owned and operated Great Country Mortgage Bankers, a mortgage lender in Miami. After a recent guilty plea, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for… Read More »
Major South Florida Hospital Group Reaches Fraud Settlement
The public hospital group Broward Health recently voted to reach a settlement with the Department of Justice reaching almost $70 million. The payout stems from a four-year federal investigation into alleged widespread Medicare and Medicaid fraud throughout the hospital system. The investigation started after federal authorities received an anonymous tip. In 2011 Department of… Read More »
Florida Medicare Fraud Goes Beyond Borders
Another tactic used by suspected Medicare fraudsters has piqued the attention of state and federal authorities looking to crack down on Medicare fraud. This strategy, known as the foreign-enrollment loophole, occurs when Medicare is paid to individuals living abroad. In general, Medicare is not available outside the U.S., except for certain emergency situations. Thus,… Read More »
South Florida Tops Charts for Organized Fraud
Multiple reports and studies have found that the state of Florida, specifically South Florida, is number one in the country for various forms of organized fraud. The Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County areas have been found over the last decade to have the highest numbers in organized fraud. The three big trends in this… Read More »
In Florida, Eight More Charged in NFL Securities Scheme
In what is becoming a new focus for U.S. Attorneys, eight additional individuals were recently indicted in relation to a securities fraud scheme allegedly operating here in South Florida. The eight individuals were part of a scheme to target elderly persons and convince them to purchase stock in two companies, one of which is… Read More »
Latest Report Reveals Increasing Problem of Medicare Prescription Fraud
As the federal government continues to focus on sweeping fraud out of the Medicare system, the latest report from the Department of Health and Human Services’s Office of Inspector General highlights how big a problem fraud has become in the popular Medicare prescription program. What does this mean for the average health care professional?… Read More »