OIG CAPTURED Fugitive: Reynel Betancourt

OIG CAPTURED Fugitive:
Reynel Betancourt

• Reynel Betancourt was sentenced on June 7, 2011, to 77 months in prison and ordered to pay approximately $6 million in restitution, joint and several, after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
• From about March 2006 to March 2007, Betancourt worked at the Dearborn Medical and Rehabilitation Center (DMRC), an infusion therapy clinic in Michigan, which was owned and operated by sisters Clara and Caridad Guilarte.
• Betancourt and his co-conspirators entered into an agreement to pay Medicare beneficiaries to receive treatments at DMRC. The infusion therapy clinic then submitted over $9 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for services that were medically unnecessary or never provided.
• The Guilarte sisters were captured in Colombia on March 13, 2011, and are awaiting trial.
• On November 30, 2010, authorities captured Betancourt in the Dominican Republic.

OIG CAPTURED Fugitive: Zoya Belov

OIG CAPTURED Fugitive:
Zoya Belov

• Zoya Belov, who with co-conspirators allegedly defrauded the Medicare program, was captured on March 23, 2011 at the San Francisco International Airport.
• The purported leader of the conspiracy, Vardges Egiazarian, owned three medical clinics in eastern California (specifically, in Sacramento, Richmond and Carmichael). From February 2006 to August 2008, these clinics allegedly submitted a total of nearly $5.2 million worth of false billings to Medicare, of which Medicare paid approximately $1.5 million. Belov, a medical assistant at the clinics, falsely claimed to have performed medical tests on patients, and requested reimbursements from Medicare, OIG alleges.
• The fraud was purportedly accomplished by recruiting and paying third parties to pretend to be "patients" who wished to receive medical treatment at one of the alleged conspirators' clinics. Normally, patients must pay for a certain portion of their medical expenses, and Medicare may pay the remainder. In this fraud, the individuals pretending to be patients were paid by the conspirators to state that they needed medical treatment when they did not.
• Belov would allegedly perform unnecessary medical tests on the patients, or fraudulently claim to have performed the tests when she had not. Belov and others then submitted the fraudulent claims to Medicare for medical services that were not performed, not performed as billed, or unnecessary, according to OIG.
• In an attempt to conceal the alleged fraud from Medicare representatives, Belov allegedly lied about the whereabouts and activities of the other conspirators.

OIG CAPTURED Fugitives: Clara Guilarte and Caridad Guilarte

OIG CAPTURED Fugitives:
Clara Guilarte and Caridad Guilarte

• Sisters Clara and Caridad Guilarte were captured in Colombia on March 13, 2011.
• Along with previously captured co-conspirator Reynel Betancourt, the Guilartes allegedly defrauded Medicare of nearly $4.3 million (and submitted $9.1 million in false and fraudulent claims), according to a Federal indictment.
• The Guilartes operated the Dearborn Medical and Rehabilitation Center (DMRC), an infusion therapy clinic in Michigan, where Betancourt was an employee.
• All three fugitives allegedly committed health care fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. The trio allegedly recruited and paid cash and other inducements to Medicare beneficiaries to visit DMRC and sign forms indicating that they received legitimate medical services, including injections and infusions of expensive medications, although the services allegedly were never provided.

Return to Captured Fugitives

OIG CAPTURED Fugitive: Luis Perez Moreira

OIG CAPTURED Fugitive:
Luis Perez Moreira

• Luis Perez Moreira is a subject in two separate criminal investigations involving E & E Medical Services Corporation (d/b/a Elbia's Pharmacy) and Rx Plus Medical Care (Rx Plus), both based in Miami.
• In April 2010, Moreira and co-conspirator Emilio Tain were indicted on charges of Health Care Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud. As operators of Elbia's Pharmacy, Moreira and Tain allegedly submitted or caused Elbia's Pharmacy to submit more than $770,000 in fraudulent billings to Medicare for prescription drugs and other items that were not medically necessary, not prescribed by a doctor, and not provided to Medicare patients.
• UPDATE: Moreira was sentenced on September 15, 2011, to 63 months' incarceration. In September 2010, Tain pled guilty to charges of Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud and was sentenced to 10 months' incarceration.
• Moreira has also been indicted on charges of Health Care Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud for his role in the operation of Rx Plus, a durable medical equipment company.
• According to the September 2010 indictment, Moreira and a co-conspirator controlled and operated Rx Plus. From August 2008 through April 2009, they allegedly submitted more than $2.5 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare, of which Medicare paid approximately $383,000.
• Investigators believe that, in order to avoid detection, Moreira and his co-conspirator recruited a nominee owner (an individual who pretends to be the owner to conceal the actual owner's identity) to use his name on the corporation's paperwork, to open bank accounts, and to sign company checks.
• Moreira was captured on June 7, 2011, at Miami International Airport. Prior to his arrest, Moreira had been living in Cancun, Mexico.

OIG CAPTURED Fugitive: Rolando Cueto

OIG CAPTURED Fugitive: Rolando Cueto

• Rolando Cueto was captured on June 30, 2011 at Miami International Airport. Prior to his arrest, he was residing in Costa Rica using a fraudulent identity.
• In September 2008, an indictment was filed charging Rolando Cueto and Juan Carlos Garcia with one count of Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud and six counts of Health Care Fraud.
• Cueto was the true owner and operator of E.O. Medical Enterprises, a durable medical equipment company operating in Hialeah, Florida. E.O. Medical submitted over $1.8 million in false claims to Medicare for medical equipment that was neither ordered by a physician nor provided to the beneficiary as claimed.
• Cueto attempted to use a nominee owner to hide his involvement in the scheme. Cueto also recruited individuals to cash checks drawn on E.O. Medical's bank account, who then returned the cash to Cueto.
• Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud and is currently serving his 2.5-year jail sentence. Garcia was also ordered to pay over $500,000 in restitution.

Medicaid Fraud In Costs U.S. More than $90 Billion A Year

Medicaid fraud in child welfare costs more than $90 billion a year.



Stop Child Medicaid Fraud

Medicare Fraud Costs U.S. $90 Billion A Year