Posted on 04/21/2010 5:52:53 PM PDT by Larry381
SAVANNAH, GA—JOSE GARCIA-IGLESIAS, 26, of Miami, Florida, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge William T. Moore to federal prison on a charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. The charge arose out of a scheme to bill Medicare for over $8 million in phantom infusion therapy services and high-dollar cancer and AIDS medications.
United States Attorney Ed Tarver said, “Now, more than ever, it is imperative that Medicare funds be directed towards those who need them. Medicare fraud weakens our nation’s entire health care delivery system. This prosecution demonstrates that those who exploit and defraud the Medicare program will face long prison sentences and will be required to make restitution to the United States.”
GARCIA-IGLESIAS was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal justice system. In addition GARCIA-IGLESIAS was ordered to pay $423,951.00 in restitution.
According to the evidence, from February through November of 2008, GARCIA-IGLESIAS conspired to bill approximately $8 million in fraudulent infusion claims from two clinics located in South Georgia which claimed to offer infusion therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries. GARCIA-IGLESIAS, with the assistance of others, devised a scheme to defraud Medicare in which GARCIA-IGLESIAS traveled from Miami to Georgia to establish the two clinics, and used stolen Medicare beneficiary information and the stolen identity of a medical doctor to submit over $8 million in infusion therapy claims to Medicare for medical services that were never provided.
The case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). United States Attorney Tarver noted that the investigation and prosecution of GARCIA-IGLESIAS is part of Operation Redex Infuscam, an investigation by the FBI, the HHS-OIG and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia into more than $25 million in fraudulent Medicare claims submitted by individuals who have relocated Medicare fraud schemes from South Florida to South Georgia. To date, Operation Redex Infuscam has resulted in the convictions of ten (10) South Florida residents who operated seven (7) phony infusion clinics in and around South Georgia.
“$423,951.00 in restitution”? Then he lives like a millionare?
/johnny
42 months, that’s all. It should be a life sentence!
Actually, corruption should carry a sliding scale penalty.
$100,000 = minimum 2 years.
$500,000 = minimum 5 years
$1,000,000 = minimum 10 years
$5,000,000 = minimum 15 years
$10,000,000 = minimum 20 years
Any amount over = minumum life sentence
I’d throw in death penalty somewhere in that list but it costs too much to actually carry out the sentence.
Anyhow, you get the idea.
Moral of the store - government steals from public - get a pass as in TARP, citizen (subject) steal from the Government - get prison time!
Under ObamaCare this type of corruption will be chump change.
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