The administrator and employee of two Miami home health care companies has been sentenced to 60 months in prison for her role in a kickback fraud scheme amounting to $74 million.
Former administrator of LTC Professional Consultants and employee of Professional Home Care Solutions Inc., Myriam Acevedo, 63, of Miami pleaded guilty in May for her role, which involved one count of conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks and two counts of payment of health care kickbacks, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to court documents, Acevedo and co-conspirators operated the companies in order to bill Medicare for physical therapy and home health services that were not necessary or which they did not provide. In the fraud scheme, Acevedo’s role was to pay kickbacks to patient recruiters, which she would pay in cash.
The group conducted the scheme from September 2007 to June 2012, according to investigators, amounting to $41 million in claims for unnecessary home health services, for which Medicare paid $27 million. The overall scheme amounted to a total of more than $74 million.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
Companies featured in this article:
LTC Professional Consultants, Professional Home Care Solutions Inc.
