4 South Florida men charged with bilking Medicare in $110 million COVID test-kit case

During the pandemic, Medicare allowed pharmacies and other companies to sign up as “mass immunizers” to supply free coronavirus tests that were covered by the federal insurance program.

More than a half-dozen South Florida and Texas companies cashed in, collecting tens of millions of dollars from Medicare by fraudulently billing the government program for thousands of over-the-counter COVID-19 tests that patients didn’t request or receive, authorities say.

On Monday, three Broward County men who operated the healthcare businesses pleaded not guilty in Fort Lauderdale federal court to charges of conspiring to commit healthcare and wire fraud, healthcare fraud and money laundering. The defendants, Jason Lavoie, Victor Ramirez and Ricardo Diaz, were granted bonds and released.

A Palm Beach County man, Robert Hopta, who was only charged with the conspiracy offense as part of a cooperation deal, also pleaded not guilty and was released on bail last week.

According to an indictment and other records, the four men billed Medicare about $110 million for COVID-19 test kits from April to December 2022, after the coronavirus swept across the country in March 2021. The taxpayer-funded program for the elderly paid out about $87 million to their businesses, according to the indictment filed by prosecutor Christopher Clark.

Records show that Lavoie was the owner of EZ RX in Weston, Independent Pharmacy Solutions in Pompano Beach and Channelview Pharmacy in Texas; Victor Ramirez was the owner of Clutch Collection Rentals in Plantation; Ricardo Diaz was the registered agent of REMR Consulting Group in Boca Raton and a co-owner of RC Group Holdings in Davie; and Robert Hopta was the president of Golden Hills Pharmacy in Sunrise. Hopta was charged separately from the other three defendants.

Paid kickbacks to get Medicare patient lists: indictment

The indictment accuses the healthcare operators of paying kickbacks to marketing companies to obtain lists of Medicare patients, submitting false bills in their names for the pandemic tests and diverting the payments through corporate bank accounts to themselves.

The indictment portrays Lavoie as being involved in the bulk of the Medicare billing. It says he and others launched an “online campaign to deceive Medicare beneficiaries into entering their names and dates of birth (but not their Medicare number) and clicking links on certain webpages which contained a statement like ‘Claim your FREE Covid Test Kits Now!’ ‘’

“Using the information provided by the beneficiaries, Jason Lavoie and others used an insurance eligibility tool to look up the beneficiaries’ Medicare number and bill Medicare for [over-the-counter] COVID-19 tests,” the indictment says.

While the unwitting Medicare patients paid nothing, Lavoie and the other men fraudulently billed Medicare a fixed rate of $12 per test kit, according to the indictment.

‘Miscarriage of justice’: Defense

South Florida defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh said Lavoie is “innocent” of the charges.

“He took extensive measures to ensure his actions were entirely legal and in full compliance with the law,” Eiglarsh said in an email. “If the government declines to dismiss these charges, we are prepared to vigorously litigate this matter before a jury. We are confident that Mr. Lavoie will be fully exonerated. His arrest represents a profound miscarriage of justice.”

Diaz’s lawyers, Doug Gilfillan, Randy Chartash and Frank Prieto, issued a statement defending their client.

“Mr. Diaz has known about this investigation for years and voluntarily surrendered to federal authorities because he has nothing to hide and has always maintained his innocence,” his lawyers said. “The defense team looks forward to challenging the government’s claims in court and clearing Mr. Diaz’s name. These are serious allegations, and we intend to address them through the proper legal process.”

Ramirez’s temporary lawyer, Barry Wax, declined to comment because he has not been permanently retained to represent him.

This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 5:04 PM.