`COMMON BOND'

''We have a close knit community with a common bond,'' Delaney said, describing the Medicare fraud scene in Miami-Dade. ``We have people here that go along with it.''

Said Brandt: ``In the Miami area in particular, with that segment of the population, we've seen high instances of that type of activity. But I want to make it clear, it's broader than that community.''

U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Florida, who filed legislation in June to combat healthcare fraud, said he didn't think Medicare corruption was strictly a ''Cuban issue.'' But he said the high number of Cuban immigrants charged in South Florida ``is not honoring the heritage of the Cuban people who have done so much for this community and for this country.''

A prominent Miami-Dade doctor known for championing the poor and homeless echoed that sentiment, while strongly condemning Medicare fraud violators as ''street criminals'' who damage society as a whole.

''You're stealing from the American people and you're sacrificing people's healthcare,'' said Dr. Pedro ''Joe'' Greer, a gastroenterologist and hepatologist, who became assistant dean of academic affairs at Florida International University's College of Medicine last year.

Greer -- who was born in Miami but whose family settled here after the Cuban revolution in 1959 -- also said there have been waves of Cuban immigrants who have helped build this community.

``What these criminals do is hurt the great American tradition of allowing people to come into our country and succeed in an honest way. This hurts everybody, the medical profession and hard-working immigrants.''

LIVING ON FRAUD

The temptation of healthcare fraud is great because almost anyone can become a Medicare operator -- even a drug dealer.

Angel Castillo Jr., a high school dropout with a federal drug-trafficking conviction, pleaded guilty in December to running eight medical equipment companies under others' names and submitting more than $48 million in false claims to Medicare.

He said he pulled it off by buying lists of Medicare patients and using physicians' identification numbers on the Internet for prescriptions.

While his bogus businesses raked in about $8 million in 2005-06, he personally pocketed more than $2 million.

Castillo said he used a tight circle of Cuban-American relatives, friends and associates -- along with recently arrived Cuban immigrants -- to pose as straw owners of healthcare companies and to withdraw Medicare payments at local banks and check stores.

He said that he is typical of the illegal Medicare providers who rely on immigrants with common backgrounds.

''We try to keep it among us,'' Castillo told The Miami Herald during a recent interview at the Federal Detention Center in Miami. ``We took advantage of the new Cuban immigrants. The real owners, like me, didn't care. It was just greed.''

In South Florida, Medicare fraud is alluring for everyday criminals, who see the potential risks as low and rewards as high.

EASY SCAM

Setting up a bogus medical equipment operation to stiff Medicare is perhaps one of the easiest scams in the world, said Castillo, adding that he broke into the business through his drug-trafficking contacts.

''A lot of people who used to be in drugs are getting into this business,'' Castillo said. ``You see it as white collar. There's not a lot of risk.''

Members of the Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America said it's criminals like Castillo who have given their industry -- which does $12 billion in legitimate business across the country with Medicare -- such a bad name.

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