Miami-Dade businessman convicted in $70 million Medicare racket
A local businessman who paid kickbacks to generate patients for mental health clinics that falsely billed $70 million to Medicare was convicted of a conspiracy charge Friday in Miami federal court.
Damian Mayol, 43, former president of Transportation Services Providers, used his company to coordinate the payment of illegal kickbacks to recruiters who referred patients to three Miami-Dade clinics, according to the Justice Department.
The taxpayer-funded Medicare program paid at total of $28 million on the false claims to R&S Community Mental Health, St. Theresa Community Mental Health Center and New Day Community Mental Health between 2008 to 2010, prosecutors said.
But Medicare patients either did not receive therapy sessions or need them.
Three other defendants associated with the now-defunct clinics, Santiago Borges, Erik Alonso and Cristina Alonso, pleaded guilty in October and were sentenced to prison ranging terms from two to 10 years.
The case, investigated by the FBI and Health and Human Services, is the latest in a series of prosecutions of fraudulent mental health clinics and operators in South Florida.
Jay Weaver: 305-376-3446, @jayhweaver
This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Miami-Dade businessman convicted in $70 million Medicare racket."