Examiner.com (Miami): Medicare Fraud and Fidel Castro
Cuba as a Place to Hide From the FBI
The FBI says the 156 Medicare fraud fugitives from Miami-Dade and other parts of South Florida comprise the majority of fugitives charged with ripping off the program nationwide.
Still, since 2008, the FBI has struggled to capture Medicare fraud fugitives, especially those who flee abroad. Of the 54 named fugitives, 26 are believed to be in Cuba and the rest in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries.
The bureau, working from 2008 to 2011 with foreign governments except Cuba, captured and arrested 16 fugitives charged with pocketing $83 million from Medicare. Of those, four were known to have fled to Cuba and were apprehended when they returned via Miami International Airport.
FBI agents and federal prosecutors say several factors have fueled the fugitive trend. One is sheer volume: Since 2006, the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami has prosecuted about 1,200 defendants on Medicare fraud charges, accounting for one-third of all such cases in the country.
Also, federal judges have issued much tougher sentences, with the average prison term ranging from five to 15 years. Last month, a physician convicted of writing phony prescriptions for unnecessary HIV therapy was sentenced to 20 years.
STRAW OWNERS
Another influential factor: In 2008, Chief U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno of Miami, troubled by the rising tide of fugitives — including some with bonds who fled the country after being convicted — advised his fellow judges to set higher bail for Medicare-fraud offenders.
“They realized that although it’s a white-collar crime, there’s still a risk of flight,” said FBI special agent Bryan Piper.
Also at play: The lure of a quick and easy buck for new Cuban arrivals. Some established clinic operators recruit the Cuban migrants to pose as “straw owners” of their Medicare businesses to protect the real owners’ identities. Then, the migrants are sent back to the island with a pocket full of cash as part of the deal.
The leader of one $100 million HIV-clinic scam in Miami-Dade and other parts of the Southeast admitted that he recruited three Cubans “with the understanding that the ‘straw’ owners would flee to Cuba to avoid law enforcement detection or capture,” according to court records.
Michel De Jesus Huarte pleaded guilty in 2009 to fraud charges and was sentenced to 22 years in prison. His accused recruits — Orlin Tamayo Quinonez, Juan Carralero and Madelin Barbara Machado — are suspected of having fled to Cuba, the FBI says…..Learn More
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Posted by Jose Reyes
on Jul 18 2011. Filed under Cuba Related, Current News, Post To Slider.
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