Fort Lauderdale nursing assistant found guilty of $11 million Medicare fraud

A Fort Lauderdale nursing assistant has been found guilty in a scheme that billed Medicare millions of dollars for orthotic braces that patients never requested or needed.

Christian Cruz, 45, was convicted Thursday on multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, four counts of healthcare fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and make false statements related to healthcare matters, and three counts of structuring financial transactions.

Federal prosecutors say Cruz, of Pompano Beach, owned and operated a durable medical equipment company, Brace Yourself MD LLC, which submitted $11.4 million in false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary orthotic braces, according to the Department of Justice.

As a result, hundreds of Medicare beneficiaries received thousands of braces that they did not need, authorities said.

“Healthcare fraud is not a paperwork offense — it is a crime that steals from seniors and undermines confidence in our healthcare system,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “This defendant was a licensed nurse who chose greed over duty, exploiting Medicare beneficiaries through a deliberate $11.4 million fraud scheme.”

Prosecutors said Cruz and a co-conspirator paid illegal kickbacks and bribes to obtain signed doctors’ orders. They used those orders to ship braces to Medicare patients nationwide and then billed Medicare for reimbursement, including for patients who neither requested nor required the equipment.

Cruz also falsely claimed to Medicare that he was the company’s sole owner and operator. In reality, he shared ownership with a co-conspirator who is a convicted felon, feds say. Medicare would not have approved the company’s enrollment had it known about the co-owner. That co-conspirator has been charged but remains at large.

Investigators said Cruz received several hundred thousand dollars in his personal bank account from the scheme and frequently withdrew cash on consecutive days at South Florida bank branches, often in amounts just below the $10,000 reporting threshold.

Cruz is scheduled to be sentenced on April 13 and faces a maximum possible sentence of 125 years in prison.