MIAMI FEDERAL COURT
Couple pleads guilty to Medicare fraud
A Miami-Dade couple at the center of a sprawling Medicare fraud conspiracy pleaded guilty in federal court and must forfeit millions to the government.
Posted on Thu, Jul. 03, 2008
BY JAY WEAVER
A Miami Lakes couple who built a billing empire by submitting about $420 million in false claims for medical equipment to Medicare has pleaded guilty to fraud charges in Miami federal court, authorities said Wednesday.
Abner and Mabel Diaz collected a 5 percent commission on $148.5 million paid by the government's healthcare program to about 85 durable medical equipment companies in South Florida between 1998 and 2004.
The couple, now 37 and 36 respectively, must turn over between $2 million and $4 million worth of real estate, jewelry and cash to federal authorities as part of their plea agreements.
But the rest of the millions paid out to the various fraudulent equipment suppliers for bogus claims will never be recovered, said U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta, who called it a ``sad thing.''
The Diazes, owners of All-Med Billing Corp., personify the corruption that has poisoned the medical equipment industry in South Florida for years, authorities said.
The couple are among about 20 defendants who have pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud and conspiracy charges in what is considered one of the biggest medical equipment corruption cases in the nation, according to the FBI.
Mabel Diaz pleaded guilty on Wednesday and her husband Abner on June 20.
They face up to 20 years in prison.
An All-Med employee, Suleidy Cano, also pleaded guilty on Wednesday to healthcare conspiracy and identity theft charges.
Cano, of Hialeah, faces up to 12 years in prison.
According to court records, the Diazes filed bogus bills on behalf of mostly Miami-Dade medical equipment companies whose owners purchased lists of elderly Medicare patients to file false claims for artificial limbs, air mattresses and oxygen concentrators, among other supplies.
The owners also obtained physicians' personal ID numbers to fill out phony prescriptions to authorize the Medicare claims, prosecutor Marc Osborne wrote in court papers.
''In fact, the equipment had not been provided to the Medicare beneficiaries as stated in the claims, nor had the physicians ordered or prescribed it as stated in the claims,'' according to the couple's plea agreements.
The convictions of the Diazes and other healthcare scammers comes as Medicare regulators are rolling out a competitive bidding program designed to reduce the cost of medical supplies and to fight healthcare fraud.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which manages the federal program, has established 10 markets including South Florida to unveil the program.
It is estimated that competitive bidding by accredited equipment companies could save Medicare upwards of $1 billion a year.
Join the discussion
The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Not a registered user? It's Free!
Register here. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
