Vicente Gonzalez, Alyd Dazza, Rico Dazza and Monika Blacio were charged with conspiracy to commit Medicare fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Michel De Jesus Huarte and Ramon Fonseca were arraigned on charges of conspiracy to commit Medicare fraud, Medicare fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. Orlin Tamayo Quinonez and Juan Carralero have been charged with conspiracy to commit Medicare fraud but have not yet been arrested and remain at large, according to the release.
The 20-count indictment outlines two separate Medicare fraud conspiracies by the defendants. According to the release, the first conspiracy charges that defendant Mr. Huarte and other unindicted conspirators controlled and operated six purported medical clinics in Miami-Dade County that submitted at least $50.2 million in false claims to Medicare for infusion therapy, injection therapy and other expensive medical treatments. As a result of these false claims, Medicare paid Mr. Huarte around $19.2 million.
The second Medicare fraud conspiracy charges defendants Mr. Huarte, Mr. Fonseca, Mr. Gonzalez, Ms. Blacio, Mr. Dazza, Mr. Quinonez and Mr. Carralero in a five-state Medicare Advantage fraud scheme. The charges allege that Mr. Huarte and Mr. Fonseca controlled and operated eight medical clinics purportedly operating in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina that collectively submitted at least $19.8 million in false claims to various private insurance companies that offered coverage to Medicare beneficiaries through Medicare Advantage programs, according to the release.
The defendants face a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment on each count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and each count of substantive healthcare fraud, 10 years’ imprisonment on each count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and substantive money laundering and 2 years’ imprisonment on each count of aggravated identity theft if convicted.
Read the release about the eight Miami residents indicted on Medicare fraud.
