Final five convicted in Miami Medicare scam

Final five convicted in Miami Medicare scam

The Associated Press
March 24, 2005

Five people, including two doctors, were convicted Thursday of health care fraud as part of a $5 million Medicare and car insurance scam. With the convictions, all 20 people indicted in the scam have been found guilty or issued guilty pleas, the state attorney's office said.

Drs. Jose Garrido and Edgard Zamora, office manager Dalia Fernandez, and patient recruiters Antonio Pina and Deisy Aviles were each convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and substantive health care fraud.
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Some street recruiters were paid as much as $1,200 to $2,000 for each automobile accident victim they brought to the clinics, prosecutors said. The patients were coached to exaggerate symptoms and complain of multiple injuries to specific body parts.

The clinics then generated phony medical documents and prescriptions for unnecessary physical therapy that were paid by private personal injury auto insurance claims.
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