A South Florida mother, daughter, their Broward pharmacy and an alleged $8 million fraud
There’s healthcare on the family plan, then there’s healthcare fraud on the family plan, which is what a federal indictment says a Boca Raton area mother and her Plantation daughter were running out of their Sunrise pharmacy.
The 18-count indictment charges Mirosis Gonazlez, 58, and Berioska Sosa, 33, each with healthcare fraud, conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to pay healthcare kickbacks, and payment of kickbacks in connection with a federal healthcare program.
That program is Medicare and the pharmacy is Aviva Care Pharmacy, 2053 N. University Dr., and the key numbers in the indictment are $12,172,791 and $8,456,406. The first number is the amount of false claims prosecutors say Gonzalez and Sosa filed to Medicare on behalf of Aviva Care for prescription drugs and durable medical equipment, i.e., shoulder braces, wrist braces. The second number is how much Aviva Care allegedly received from Medicare on those fraudulent claims.
Family pharmacy business
The indictment says Gonzalez and Sosa ran their scam from August 2016 through May 2020. State records say Aviva first was registered with the state in 2014, with Gonzalez one of the officers. She’s the only remaining listed officer and the registered agent on Aviva’s current state listing, although under two addresses — her Palm Beach County home and the Plantation rental apartment that a database says is Sosa’s home.
In the middle of that time span, April 2018, Palm Beach County property records say Gonzalez and Howard Friedman bought 22286 Tupelo Pl., a 1993-built, three-bedroom, two-bathroom Lexington Homes Estates house in unincorporated Palm Beach County for $375,000. If Gonzalez is convicted and prosecutors can show the money for that home came from the fraud, that real estate might be seized in forfeiture. Around the corner, a 1991-built home with 46 more square feet sold for $500,000 last December.
As for the alleged scheme, the indictment describes a standard Medicare fraud scheme, starting with kickbacks paid to patient recruiters, who refer Medicare beneficiaries and doctor’s orders for drugs or equipment to Aviva Care. The indictment says this scam included bribes to telemedicine companies for doctor’s orders for unnecessary equipment and drugs that weren’t eligible for Medicare reimbursement.
“These doctors orders were written by doctors who had contracted with the telemedicine companies and did not have pre-existing doctor-patient relationships with the beneficiaries,” the indictment says, “were not treating the beneficiaries, did not conduct physical examinations and did not conduct proper telemedicine visits.”
These claims, the indictment says, were then submitted to Medicare for reimbursement.
The online court dockets say each woman surrendered on Thursday, $150,000 bond was set and the Bureau of Prisons online docket says each was released Monday.
They’ll be arraigned and enter a plea on Sept. 20. Their lawyer did not immediately respond for comment.
