A Florida businesswoman pleaded guilty today to an information in the District of Vermont for participating in a conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks.
According to court documents, Evelyn Herrera, 62, of Loxahatchee, Florida, owned a durable medical equipment company called Merida Medical Supplies Inc. (Merida). After obtaining the identities of individuals residing in Vermont, across New England, and elsewhere in the United States, Herrera, using Merida, submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for wrist, knee, and back braces that were never requested or received by patients. In total, Merida fraudulently billed Medicare approximately $6.5 million, and Medicare paid Merida approximately $2.8 million based on those claims.
As part of the scheme, Herrera tried to hide the source of the funds generated fraudulently by Merida. For example, she transferred more than $300,000 in fraud proceeds to a cryptocurrency exchange and sent another $125,000 of illicit funds via international wire transactions for the purchase of a property in Tulum, Mexico. After the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a payment suspension letter to Merida for suspected fraud, Herrera withdrew large amounts of cash from a bank and transferred some of the funds to benefit herself and members of her family.
Herrera is scheduled to be sentenced on May 11, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Roberto Coviello of the Department of Health and Human Services, Officer of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and Special Agent in Charge Ted E. Docks of the FBI made the announcement.
HHS-OIG and FBI are investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Sarah Rocha, Thomas Campbell, and Tiffany Wynn of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.