Southern District of Florida

A physician licensed in Puerto Rico, who was practicing medicine in Miami, was charged in a 16-count indictment unsealed today for his alleged participation in a multi-faceted $20 million health care fraud scheme involving the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid and the illegal distribution of oxycodone and other controlled substances.  

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office and Special Agent in Charge Brian Swain of the United States Secret Service’s (USSS) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

Roberto A. Fernandez, M.D., 51, of Miami, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, 11 counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care bribes and kickbacks, one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and two counts of distribution of controlled substances.  Fernandez was arrested on March 22, 2017, and made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrea M. Simonton of the Southern District of Florida.    

According to the indictment, from approximately December 2009 to March 2017, Fernandez owned and operated Florida-based Latin Foundation for Health Inc. and purported to practice medicine as an “area of critical need” doctor at Latin Foundation for Health and other facilities in Miami-Dade County.

The indictment alleges that from approximately January 2011 through February 2017, Fernandez referred Medicare beneficiaries and Medicaid recipients who were purportedly under his care to Calan Pharmacy & Discount Service LLC, a Medicare Part D provider, and several Miami-area home health agencies in exchange for illegal bribes and kickbacks from his co-conspirators.  The indictment further alleges that Fernandez submitted false and fraudulent claims through Medicare Part B for services, office visits and procedures that he never provided, such as therapeutic injections and removal of lesions from patients’ faces, and provided prescriptions for home health services and medications regardless of whether they were medically necessary.  

The indictment further alleges that Fernandez illegally dispensed controlled substances, including but not limited to the Schedule II controlled substances Oxycodone and Hydrocodone and the Schedule IV controlled substance Alprazolam, to his co-conspirators.  

According to the indictment, Fernandez and his co-conspirators caused Medicare to pay at least approximately $4.4 million based on false and fraudulent claims that they caused to be submitted.  The indictment also alleges that Medicare, through Part D, paid a total of approximately $20 million as a result of claims submitted listing Fernandez as the prescribing physician.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.  

The FBI, HHS-OIG and USSS investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.  Former Fraud Section Trial Attorney and current Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa H. Miller of the Southern District of Florida and Fraud Section Trial Attorney Adam G. Yoffie are prosecuting the case.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 3,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $11 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

A physician licensed in Puerto Rico, who was practicing medicine in Miami, was charged in a 16-count indictment unsealed today for his alleged participation in a multi-faceted $20 million health care fraud scheme involving the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid and the illegal distribution of oxycodone and other controlled substances.

Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg of the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office and Special Agent in Charge Brian Swain of the United States Secret Service’s (USSS) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

Roberto A. Fernandez, M.D., 51, of Miami, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, 11 counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care bribes and kickbacks, one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and two counts of distribution of controlled substances. Fernandez was arrested on March 22, 2017, and made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrea M. Simonton of the Southern District of Florida.

According to the indictment, from approximately December 2009 to March 2017, Fernandez owned and operated Florida-based Latin Foundation for Health Inc. and purported to practice medicine as an “area of critical need” doctor at Latin Foundation for Health and other facilities in Miami-Dade County.

The indictment alleges that from approximately January 2011 through February 2017, Fernandez referred Medicare beneficiaries and Medicaid recipients who were purportedly under his care to Calan Pharmacy & Discount Service LLC, a Medicare Part D provider, and several Miami-area home health agencies in exchange for illegal bribes and kickbacks from his co-conspirators. The indictment further alleges that Fernandez submitted false and fraudulent claims through Medicare Part B for services, office visits and procedures that he never provided, such as therapeutic injections and removal of lesions from patients’ faces, and provided prescriptions for home health services and medications regardless of whether they were medically necessary.

The indictment further alleges that Fernandez illegally dispensed controlled substances, including but not limited to the Schedule II controlled substances Oxycodone and Hydrocodone and the Schedule IV controlled substance Alprazolam, to his co-conspirators.

According to the indictment, Fernandez and his co-conspirators caused Medicare to pay at least approximately $4.4 million based on false and fraudulent claims that they caused to be submitted. The indictment also alleges that Medicare, through Part D, paid a total of approximately $20 million as a result of claims submitted listing Fernandez as the prescribing physician.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The FBI, HHS-OIG and USSS investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. Former Fraud Section Trial Attorney and current Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa H. Miller of the Southern District of Florida and Fraud Section Trial Attorney Adam G. Yoffie are prosecuting the case.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 3,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $11 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A South Florida resident pleaded guilty for his role in a Jamaican-based fraudulent lottery scheme, the Department of Justice announced today.

 

Claude Shaw, 49, pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Florida to one count of mail fraud. Shaw was charged in connection with a fraudulent lottery scheme based in Jamaica that induced victims in the United States to send Shaw over $100,000 to cover purported fees for lottery winnings that victims had not won and never received. Sentencing is scheduled on May 31, 2017.

 

“This case demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to combating international lottery fraud schemes based in Jamaica targeting potentially vulnerable individuals,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Financial fraud schemes directed at unsuspecting victims will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

 

This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s effort working with federal and local law enforcement to combat fraudulent lottery schemes preying on American citizens.

 

Shaw pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. As part of his guilty plea, Shaw agreed that if this case proceeded to trial, the United States would have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that, from in or around September 2013, through in or around August 20l5, Shaw participated in a scheme to defraud victims in the United States and unlawfully enrich himself. Victims throughout the United States received telephone calls in which they were falsely informed that they had won over a million dollars in a lottery and needed to pay money in advance to claim their winnings. The victims were instructed on how, and to whom, to send their money.

 

As part of the scheme, victims were instructed to send their money to Shaw. Victims sent over $100,000 to Shaw, who then forwarded a portion of the money to Jamaica. Victims never received any lottery winnings.

 

“The Postal Inspection Service is committed to investigating fraudulent lottery schemes based in Jamaica directed at ripping off individuals in the United States,” said Inspector in Charge Antonio Gomez of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Miami, Florida Division. “Lottery fraud scams tied to Jamaica are targeting victims in the United States, and we will not allow them to use the U.S. mail to commit their crime.”

 

Acting Assistant Attorney General Readler commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Arturo DeCastro of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch.

 

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl.

A North Miami resident was sentenced yesterday by United States District Judge Kathleen M. Williams to 40 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for possessing over 1,000 pieces of personal identifying information of other individuals.

 

Benjamin G. Greenberg, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), and Nonie Manion, Acting Commissioner, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance made the announcement.

 

Randy Jacques, 28, previously pled guilty to one count of possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(3), and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1).

 

According to court documents, on August 20, 2015, pursuant to a search warrant, law enforcement searched Jacques’ residence in connection with an investigation related to the more than 200 fraudulent telephone calls made to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. During the search of the residence, law enforcement recovered a laptop from the defendant’s room. A forensic analysis of the laptop revealed documents containing the personal identifying information (PII) of other individuals, including their names, dates of birth and social security numbers. The forensic analysis identified 1,147 unique pieces of PII. In addition, approximately 47 New York State tax forms were recovered from the laptop.

 

Law enforcement spoke with an individual victim whose name, date of birth, and social security number were located on Jacques’ laptop, and confirmed that he/she did not authorize the defendant to be in possession of the PII.

 

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida is committed to combatting identity theft fraud schemes that compromise local and national taxpayer identities,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg. “Prosecuting the offenders who unlawfully steal and possess the personal identification information of others remains a top priority for the Office and our partners.”

 

“The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General collaborated with investigative partners at the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance to dismantle an identity theft scheme based in South Florida. We will continue working diligently to combat these types of schemes,” stated Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, Atlanta Region, DOL-OIG.

 

"Criminals who steal private taxpayer information will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Nonie Manion. "New York State goes to great lengths to protect honest taxpayers from being victimized by identity thieves using stolen data for their own personal gain. We will continue to track down these criminals, wherever they may be, and stop their illegal schemes."

 

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of DOL-OIG and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua S. Rothstein.

 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A Homestead resident was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas to 24 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for possessing child pornography.

 

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made the announcement.

 

Bismarck Antonio Vargas, 43, of Homestead, previously pled to guilty to one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B).

 

According to court documents, on or about September 22, 2011, in Broward County, in the Southern District of Florida, Vargas possessed an Apple iPhone containing 67 photos depicting child pornography. Among these images were pictures of prepubescent minors. Based on a forensic examination, the images of child pornography were uploaded to the iPhone between July 26, 2011 and September 19, 2011. Vargas viewed images of minor females and saved some of the images to his cellular telephone.

 

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua S. Rothstein.

 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A Hallandale resident was sentenced yesterday, by United States District Court Senior Judge William J. Zloch, to 36 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), made the announcement.

Tarik Jean-Jourdian, 25, previously pled guilty to one count of use of one or more unauthorized access devices to obtain anything of value aggregating $1,000 or more, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(2), and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1).

According to court documents, an analysis of ATM video footage revealed that, between April 15and May 15, 2015, the PNC Bank account issued to a victim was accessed on at least six different occasions, to withdraw a total of $2,800, from various PNC Bank ATMs by defendant Jourdian. On February 8, 2016, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Jourdian’s Hallandale residence and vehicle. During the course of the search of defendant’s car, agents seized numerous handwritten and typed pieces of paper containing the personal identifying information (PII) of other individuals, including names, dates of birth and social security numbers. In total, there were approximately 200 pieces of distinct PII found in the defendant’s vehicle.

Law enforcement spoke with the individual whose name, date of birth, and social security number were used to open the PNC Bank account, and confirmed that he/she did not authorize Jean-Jourdian to be in possession of the PII.

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of DOL-OIG. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Joshua S. Rothstein and Breezye Telfair.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida atwww.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Randy A. Hummel, Executive Assistant United States Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida; Nadine Gurley, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG); and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announced the filing of charges against DAXC, LLC (“DAXC”), an affiliated entity of Pinnacle Housing Group, Inc. (“PHG”), a low-income housing developer operating in Miami, Florida.

DAXC is charged by Criminal Information with theft of government money, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641. According to allegations contained in the Information, and statements made in Court, the DAXC theft scheme involved low-income housing developments built by PHG in Florida, specifically Vista Mar, an apartment complex in Miami; Pinnacle at Avery Glenn, an apartment complex in Sunrise; Orchid Grove, an apartment complex in Homestead; and Cypress Cove, an apartment complex in Winter Haven.

According to the Criminal Information, Florida Housing Finance Corporation (“FHFC”) issued federal tax credits and grant monies to developers for the construction of low-income housing in Florida. To obtain these federal funds, FHFC required developers to submit proposed development costs, including a construction contract signed by the developer and contractor.

2009 to 2011, PHG’s affiliated contractor solicited bids for concrete shell work for the housing developments. The affiliated contractor received a final bid for concrete shell work from Shell Subcontractor A. Instead of signing contracts with Shell Subcontractor A at its final bid price, the affiliated contractor signed contracts for concrete shell work with their affiliated subcontractor, DAXC, at prices inflated from $200,000 to $1.5 million higher than Shell Subcontractor A’s price. DAXC did not have the personnel or equipment to complete concrete shell work and in fact did not complete any shell work on these projects. Rather, DAXC subcontracted with Shell Subcontractor A to complete the concrete shell work at Shell Subcontractor A’s final bid price.

PHG then submitted the inflated construction contracts to FHFC’s representatives for the receipt of federal tax credits and grant monies for the housing developments. As a result of DAXC’s fraudulent inflation scheme, FHFC allocated approximately $4.2 million in excess federal funds. On or about November 8, 2011, among other wire transfers, the five principals of the affiliated contractor received payments totaling approximately $2.5 million from this contract inflation scheme from DAXC’s bank account.

The United States and DAXC entered into a deferred prosecution agreement filed today pursuant to which DAXC has paid $5.2 million in forfeiture and fines to the United States.

This is the third in a series of prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida involving theft of government funds relating to low-income housing developments. The Office previously charged the principals of Carlisle Development Group, Inc. for a $25 million contract inflation scheme as well as the principals of Biscayne Housing Group, Inc. for a $10 million contract inflation scheme.

A Criminal Information merely contains allegations and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Hummel commended the investigative efforts of HUD-OIG and IRS-CI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael R. Sherwin, Michael N. Berger, and Evelyn B. Sheehan. As a result of a recusal by Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg, Hummel is the Attorney for the Government.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Hialeah Police Department Officer Raul Castellon was arrested on Friday, March 17, 2017, on corruption and identify fraud charges.

 

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Peter Forcelli, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, made the announcement.

 

Raul Castellon, 38, of the Hialeah Police Department, was charged by indictment with affecting commerce by extortion under color of official right, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951(a), punishable by up to twenty years in prison. He was also charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(b)(2), aggravated identity fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A, and possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(3). Castellon is scheduled for an initial appearance today, at 1:30 p.m., before a United States Magistrate Judge in Miami.

 

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, as an officer for the Hialeah Police Department and as part of his regular duties, Castellon had access to Florida’s Driver and Vehicle Information Database (“DAVID”). DAVID is a confidential database that provides law enforcement officers with the driver and motor vehicle information of other persons, including personal identifying information, such as drivers’ license numbers, social security numbers, and dates of birth.

 

The indictment further alleges that from on or about June 1, 2016, and continuing through on or about October 19, 2016, Castellon used his law enforcement access to DAVID to log into the system, search for other persons, and take screen shots of other persons’ personal identifying information. The indictment also claims that Castellon sent over 25 of these DAVID screen shots to his codefendant Neilin Gonzalez Diaz in exchange for gifts.

 

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, including the Miami Area Corruption Task Force, ATF, Miami-Dade Police Department, and Hialeah Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Cervantes and Elina Rubin-Smith.

 

An indictment is a formal charging document notifying the defendant of the allegations that have been filed with the court. All persons charged by indictment are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida atwww.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A South Florida resident pled guilty in federal court yesterday for committing an armed robbery of a jewelry store in the Seybold Building in downtown Miami.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade State Attorney; George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge (FBI), Miami Field Division; and Rodolfo Llanes, Chief, City of Miami Police Department (MPD), made the announcement.

Jessie Wooden, 29, of Miami, pled guilty to conspiring to commit an armed robbery, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Wooden faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Court Donald L. Graham on May 25, 2017.

According to the court record, including the agreed upon factual proffer, on October 29, 2016, Wooden and his co-conspirator robbed a jewelry store located in the Seybold Building in downtown Miami. Once inside the jewelry store, Wooden brandished a firearm while the co-conspirator bound the victim’s hands and feet. The defendant and his co-conspirator stole approximately 35 watches and over $250,000 in U.S. currency.

On January 11, 2017, law enforcement officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle Wooden was driving. Wooden refused to stop and sideswiped an officer’s vehicle in an attempt to evade capture. Ultimately, Wooden crashed his vehicle and was taken into custody. A search of the vehicle revealed a loaded firearm. An additional search of Wooden’s residence revealed over 100 rounds of ammunition.

Mr. Greenberg commends the FBI and MPD for their collaborative work as part of the South Florida Violent Crime Task Force. This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Marianne Curtis from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

 

Jean-Philippe Boursiquot, B&C Royalty Multi-Services Inc., Roberton Boursiquot, and RBS Flamboyant Solutions Inc. prepare false federal income tax returns for their customers, according to a new civil suit filed by the Department of Justice. The complaint filed in federal court in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, asks a federal judge to bar the Boursiquots and their businesses from preparing tax returns for others. The complaint also requests a court order requiring the Boursiquots and their businesses to disgorge the gross receipts they obtained from the preparation of federal tax returns that made false or fraudulent claims.

 

According to the complaint, Jean-Phillipe Boursiquot of Margate, Florida, owns and operates B&C Royalty Multi-Services, a tax return preparation business located in Oakland Park, Florida. Roberton Boursiquot of Tamarac, Florida, owns and operates RBS Flamboyant Solutions Inc., a tax return preparation business that is located in Hollywood, Florida.

 

The complaint alleges that the defendants prepare tax returns for customers that understate liabilities and overstate refunds by falsifying information, fabricating deductions, and claiming bogus credits. The complaint alleges that just one of the defendants’ schemes — bogus federal education credits claimed in 2016 — cost the United States over $470,000 in tax revenue. The complaint further alleges that the defendants tell customers they are due a certain refund amount, file returns on their behalf requesting a larger amount, and keep the excess as preparation fees without the customers’ knowledge or consent.

 

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2017 and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers.

 

In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.

 

Yesterday afternoon a federal jury convicted two South Florida men for their participation in an alien smuggling ring that moved Cuban-born baseball players and their families to third countries and then the United States, without official authorization from the U.S. Government.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Mark Selby, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), made the announcement.

Bartolo Hernandez, of Weston, and Julio Estrada, of Miami, were convicted at trial of conspiring to commit an offense against the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, and bringing an alien who has not received official authorization to the United States, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii). Hernandez faces a mandatory minimum term of 3 years and a maximum term of 15 years’ imprisonment. Estrada faces a mandatory minimum term of 5 years and a maximum term of 35 years’ imprisonment. The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams on July 11, 2017 at 10 a.m.

According to the court record, including evidence introduced during the six-week trial, Hernandez and Estrada conspired with a criminal organization involving boat captains, document forgers and illicit transporters to smuggle Cuban baseball players and those players’ family members out of Cuba into other countries, including Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, before then transporting them to the United States. To expedite obtaining permanent residency in these third countries, Hernandez and Estrada procured residency documents by falsifying employment information and bribing foreign officials. After obtaining the fraudulent foreign residency documents, Hernandez and Estrada submitted those documents to the United States Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Those same fraudulent foreign residency documents were also provided to the United States Department of State, when the Cuban-born baseball players applied for visas to play baseball in the United States.

In some instances, Hernandez and Estrada refused to wait for licenses and visas and instead brought Cuban-born baseball players directly to the United States, without prior official authorization.

Hernandez conspired with alien smugglers to bring Cuban baseball player Leonys Martin Tapanes illegally into the United States across the Texas-Mexico border. Estrada brought Cuban baseball players Omar Luis and Alejandro Piloto into the United States from Haiti, through other countries, into Mexico and then met them after they unlawfully crossed into the United States. Estrada also illegally brought Cuban baseball players Dalier Hinojosa and Jose Abreu into the United States. Hinojosa and Abreu were provided fake passports with fraudulent visas to board flights from Port-au-Prince, Haiti to Miami International Airport by a conspirator of the defendants and were instructed to destroy evidence of those fake passports before arriving in the United States.

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and ICE-HSI. Mr. Greenberg also thanked the United States State Department and OFAC for their assistance. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick Sullivan and H. Ron Davidson.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.

 

Jason Barber, 39, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced today to a total of 60 years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Robert N. Scola Jr in Miami, Florida, for producing child pornography that depicted his abuse of a toddler he was babysitting. Barber previously pled guilty to all counts in the Indictment.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Rick Maglione, Chief, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, and Alexander Perez, Chief, North Las Vegas Police Department, made the announcement.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 25, 2013, the South Florida Internet Crimes against Child Task Force (ICAC), located in Broward County, Florida, received two cyber tips regarding several email accounts suspected of trading dozens of images depicting child pornography. Upon receiving the tip, The South Florida ICAC began their investigation to determine who was responsible for sending and receiving the email. After identifying an IP address used to access one of the email accounts, law enforcement obtained and executed a search warrant at the residence of co-defendant Benedict Shaw, a Lauderhill, Florida resident.

Law enforcement confirmed that Shaw was communicating with Barber, a Nevada resident and boyfriend of the victim’s mother. Barber had convinced the two-year old child’s mother to allow him to babysit the toddler while the mother was at work. Barber had previously met Shaw in an online chatroom for individuals with a diaper fetish. During their month of email communications, Barber requested that Shaw send him a cellphone and diapers. Shaw sent Barber a package containing the requested cellphone, diapers, and other items to use in the child pornography videos. Barber used the cell phone to record himself sexually abusing the child in his care. Barber then sent the video and several still images to Shaw via email.

Shaw previously pled guilty for his involvement with the production of child pornography and was sentenced in October of 2014 to 45 years’ imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Scola (Case No. 14-CR-60011-Scola).

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, South Florida ICAC, and North Las Vegas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Francis Viamontes and Jodi Anton prosecuted this case.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Two owners of sober homes and alcohol and drug addiction treatment centers pled guilty for their participation in a multi-million dollar health care fraud and money laundering scheme that involved the filing of fraudulent insurance claim forms and defrauded health care benefit programs.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Dave Aronberg, State Attorney, Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, Jeff Atwater, Florida Chief Financial Officer, William D. Snyder, Sheriff Martin County Sheriff's Office, Robert Koons, Special Agent in Charge, Amtrak Office of Inspector General, Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Isabel Colon, Regional Director, United States Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (DOL-EBSA), Dennis Russo, Director of Operations, National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), Ric Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO), Sarah Mooney, Chief, West Palm Beach Police Department, Jeffrey S. Goldman, Chief, Delray Beach Police Department, Pam Bondi, Florida Attorney General, and Scott Rezendes, Special Agent in Charge, Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General (OPM-OIG), made the announcement.

Kenneth Chatman, a/k/a “Kenny,” 46, of Boynton Beach, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h); and one count of sex trafficking conspiracy, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1594(c). Laura Chatman, 44, of Boynton Beach, pled guilty to two counts of making a false statement related to a health care matter, in violation ofTitle18, United States Code, Section 1035(a)(1). Sentencings for the Chatmans are scheduled for May 17, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks.

According to court documents, defendant Kenneth Chatman established a series of sober homes, including Stay’n Alive, Inc., Total Recovery Sober Living LLC, and several other multi-bed residences operating as sober homes in Palm Beach and Broward Counties. These sober home facilities were purportedly in the business of providing safe and drug-free residences for individuals suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. Kenneth Chatman conspired with others to obtain patients who would receive ineffective and medically unnecessary substance abuse treatment and testing that could be billed to the patients’ insurance in order to enrich Chatman and the members of the conspiracy.

To achieve this goal, defendant Kenneth Chatman paid kickbacks and bribes to the sober home owners for referring their residents to Reflections Treatment Center LLC in Margate, Florida and Journey to Recovery LLC in Lake Worth, Florida for treatment, and disguised these kickbacks and bribes as “case management fees,” “consulting fees,” “marketing fees,” and “commissions.” The co-defendants met with Kenneth Chatman on a weekly basis to collect their kickbacks and bribes, which were based on the number of insured patients that received treatment each week.

To obtain residents for the sober homes, defendant Kenneth Chatman and others involved in the conspiracy provided kickbacks and bribes, in the form of free or reduced rent and other benefits, to individuals with insurance who agreed to reside at the sober homes, attend drug treatment, and submit to regular drug testing that members of the conspiracy could bill to the residents’ insurance plans. Although the sober homes were purportedly drug-free residences, some of the defendants permitted the residents to continue using drugs as long as they attended treatment and submitted to drug testing.

Defendants Kenneth and Laura Chatman submitted to the Florida Department of Children and Families fraudulent applications for licensure for Journey to Recovery and Reflections Treatment Center, stating that Laura Chatman was the sole owner of those entities and hiding the fact that Kenneth Chatman owned and operated the treatment centers and was a convicted felon and therefore unable to operate the facilities in his own name.

Defendant Laura Chatman appeared at Reflections and Journey for audits and inspections by DCF and other accrediting agencies to make it seem that she was the sole owner and officer of the companies. Defendant Laura Chatman also filed corporate documents and opened bank accounts in the name of Reflections and Journey to allow co-defendant Kenneth Chatman access to deposit proceeds from the health care fraud scheme and to conduct transactions meant to promote the scheme. Defendant Kenneth Chatman managed all aspects of these facilities including the hiring and firing of personnel; admitting and discharging patients and making financial decisions.

Defendant Kenneth Chatman dictated which patients were admitted and discharged and the type and frequency of different types of lab testing that would be performed based the kickbacks and bribes that he was receiving from different clinical laboratories rather than based upon the individual patients’ needs. Kenneth Chatman dictated that confirmatory urine drug testing; duplicative saliva drug testing, DNA and allergy testing regardless of whether patients complained of allergies. These tests were medically unnecessary and not used to direct the treatment of patients. Many of the test results were never reviewed and new samples were submitted before older tests were received and reviewed.

Defendant Kenneth Chatman also recruited and coerced female patients and residents into prostitution, telling them that they would not have to pay rent or participate in treatment or testing so long as they would allow him to continue to bill their insurance companies for substance abuse treatment and testing that the patients did not receive.

Defendants Kenneth Chatman and other co-conspirators recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, and maintained some female patients into performing commercial sex acts. The defendant provided housing for the female patients, who would be made to perform sex acts in exchange for money that would then have to be paid to defendant Kenneth Chatman as “rent.” The commercial sex activity occurred at some of the sober homes controlled by the defendant or at hotels and motels. Kenneth Chatman provided condoms and advertised and caused the advertisement of the commercial sexual activity. Kenneth Chatman and other co-conspirators provided controlled substances to these addicted patients to induce them to perform sexual acts.

Kenneth Chatman also used intimidation tactics and threats of legal process, including evicting the patients from his sober homes to maintain their compliance. These patients were not required to attend treatment at Reflections or provide bodily fluid samples for testing but he submitted and caused the submission of claims to the patients’ Insurance Plans for substance abuse treatment and testing that they did not receive.

Kenneth Chatman further maintained control over patients who attended Reflections and Journey by threats and confiscating their belongings, car keys, telephones, medications, and food stamps, in order to maintain the ability to continue billing their Insurance Plans.

The proceeds of the health care fraud scheme were deposited into bank accounts that Kenneth Chatman and co-defendant Laura Chatman opened at Wells Fargo Bank in the name of Reflections and Journey. Kenneth Chatman and the co-conspirators agreed to use the proceeds to promote the ongoing fraud scheme including the making of kickback and bribe payments in the form of checks to sober home owners. These checks were for the referral of insured clients to Reflections for treatment and often noted that they were for “case management.” Kenneth Chatman, Laura Chatman and their co-conspirators also made payments to the medical directors, clinical directors, employees and others to continue their involvement with the fraud. Monies from these accounts were also used to pay kickbacks and bribes to patients, including providing prescription and illicit drugs to patients and potential patients.

Potential victims should call (561) 822-5114 or submit complaints through the IC3 Complaint Form - https://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx and use the key word “Chatman Reflections” in the “Description of the Incident” field when submitting complaints related to this case.

Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the Greater Palm Beach Health Care Fraud Task Force. Agencies of the task force include the FBI, IRS-CI, the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office Sober Homes Task Force, Florida Division of Investigative and Forensic Services, Martin County Sheriff's Office, Amtrak OIG, DOL-OIG, DOL-EBSA, National Insurance Crime Bureau, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, West Palm Beach Police Department, Delray Beach Police Department, Florida Attorney General Office of Statewide Prosecution, and OPM-OIG. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney A. Marie Villafaña.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.

A title agent and a co-conspirator pled guilty today to federal charges related to their participation in a $10 million mortgage fraud scheme.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Defendants Michelle Cabrera, 48, of Miami Lakes, and Pedro Melian, 39, of Hialeah, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349 (Case No. 16-60349-CR-DIMITROULEAS). At sentencing, each defendant faces up to thirty years? imprisonment.

Defendants Marco Laureti, 45, of Sunny Isles Beach, and Felix Mostelac, 44, of Miami Beach, were charged by Indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349 and multiple counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 (Case No. 16-60340-CR-ZLOCH), for conduct allegedly related to the fraud scheme, and are awaiting trial.

to court documents, defendants Laureti, Mostelac, Cabrera and Melian were involved with a $10 million mortgage fraud scheme. Laureti was a former newspaper publisher and owner of Laureti Publishing Company, in addition to being a licensed real estate sales associate and mortgage broker. Mostelac was Laureti’s associate and also the owner of several companies. Cabrera owned Florida Elite Title & Escrow in Davie and served as the title agent for these transactions. Melian also owned several companies.

According to information presented in court and accompanying documents, the defendants engaged in a fraud scheme involving a condominium complex located at 45 Hendricks Isle in Fort Lauderdale. Defendants Laureti, Mostelac and Melian made false and fraudulent statements to a financial institution on loan applications and closing statements for the multi-million dollar condominiums. Once the loans were approved, defendant Cabrera, at Laureti’s direction, diverted the loan proceeds to fund the cash the borrower was expected to bring to the property’s closing, as well as diverting additional monies from the loan proceeds to various companies owned by Laureti and Mostelac. Furthermore, according to court documents, Laureti and Mostelac utilized the same scheme on the loan applications and closing statements to purchase their own multi-million dollar residential properties in Miami Beach, in addition to Laureti directing Cabrera to divert funds. The defendants’ scheme defrauded the financial institution of approximately $10 million.

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Katz.

An Indictment merely contains allegations and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A South Florida home health care owner was charged in an indictment unsealed today for his alleged participation in a $15 million health care fraud scheme involving fraudulent claims for home health services.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office and Special Agent-in-Charge Brian Swain of the U.S. Secret Service’s (USSS) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

Yunesky I. Fornaris, 38, of Miami, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, two counts of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay health care kickbacks.  Fornaris was arrested today and made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge William C. Turnoff of the Southern District of Florida.   

The indictment alleges that from in or around April 2010 through July 2016, Fornaris and his co-conspirators hid their ownership in Elite Home Care LLC (Elite), a Miami-area home health clinic, in the name of a nominee owner in an effort to conceal their participation in the fraudulent scheme.  According to the indictment, Fornaris and his co-conspirators allegedly submitted false and fraudulent application documents, causing Medicare to give and continue to reauthorize Elite’s Medicare provider number.  As a result, the number enabled Fornaris and his co-conspirators to allegedly submit fraudulent claims for services that were not medically necessary or never provided.  In addition, Fornaris allegedly signed portions of Elite’s Medicare applications and re-certifications committing Elite to comply with Medicare’s rules and regulations, as well as the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute.  Notwithstanding these certifications, Fornaris and his co-conspirators allegedly caused kickbacks to be paid to Medicare beneficiaries and patient recruiters in exchange for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries to Elite.    
 
According to the indictment, Medicare paid approximately $15 million as a result of false and fraudulent claims submitted by Elite.    

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.  

The FBI, HHS-OIG and USSS investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida.  Former Fraud Section Attorney and current Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa H. Miller of the Southern District of Florida and Fraud Section Attorney Adam G. Yoffie are prosecuting the case.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 3,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $11 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

A South Florida home health care owner was charged in an indictment unsealed today for his alleged participation in a $15 million health care fraud scheme involving fraudulent claims for home health services.

Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg of the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office and Special Agent in Charge Brian Swain of the U.S. Secret Service’s (USSS) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

Yunesky I. Fornaris, 38, of Miami, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, two counts of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay health care kickbacks. Fornaris was arrested today and made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge William C. Turnoff of the Southern District of Florida.

The indictment alleges that from in or around April 2010 through July 2016, Fornaris and his co-conspirators hid their ownership in Elite Home Care LLC (Elite), a Miami-area home health clinic, in the name of a nominee owner in an effort to conceal their participation in the fraudulent scheme. According to the indictment, Fornaris and his co-conspirators allegedly submitted false and fraudulent application documents, causing Medicare to give and continue to reauthorize Elite’s Medicare provider number. As a result, the number enabled Fornaris and his co-conspirators to allegedly submit fraudlent claims for services that were not medically necessary or never provided. In addition, Fornaris allegedly signed portions of Elite’s Medicare applications and re-certifications committing Elite to comply with Medicare’s rules and regulations, as well as the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute. Notwithstanding these certifications, Fornaris and his co-conspirators allegedly caused kickbacks to be paid to Medicare beneficiaries and patient recruiters in exchange for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries to Elite.

According to the indictment, Medicare paid approximately $15 million as a result of false and fraudulent claims submitted by Elite.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The FBI, HHS-OIG and USSS investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida. Former Fraud Section Attorney and current Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa H. Miller of the Southern District of Florida and Fraud Section Attorney Adam G. Yoffie are prosecuting the case.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 3,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $11 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A United States Postal Service letter carrier was convicted at trial of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Max Eamiguel, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), Antonio J. Gomez, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, and Cissy Proctor, Executive Director, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), made the announcement.

Yvenel Clotaire, of West Palm Beach, was convicted yesterday, following a four-day federal jury trial in West Palm Beach, Florida of conspiring to commit access device fraud, access device fraud, and five counts of aggravated identity theft. Sentencing is scheduled for May 19, 2017, before United States District Court Judge Robin L. Rosenberg.

According to the court record, including evidence introduced at trial, Clotaire engaged in a scheme to obtain fraudulent unemployment benefits from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), while the defendant was working as a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service. Clotaire provided coconspirators with the residential addresses of approximately 50 to 60 individuals on his postal route, to be used in furtherance of the scheme. Fraudulent unemployment applications, using the addresses and stolen identities of postal customers, were then submitted to DEO and resulted in the issuance of Florida Visa debit cards. The debit cards were mailed through interstate commerce to the residential addresses on the defendant’s postal route. The cards were ultimately transferred to at least one other co-conspirator and used to make withdrawals from ATMs. As a result of the fraudulent scheme, the State of Florida sustained approximately $90,000 in financial losses.

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the DOL-OIG, USPS-OIG, USPIS and DEO. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam McMichael.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

 

Two Broward County residents were indicted on federal explosives charges.

 

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Peter Forcelli, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, made the announcement.

 

Bruce McFadden Sr., 50, of Lauderdale Lakes, and Bruce McFadden Jr., 33, of Fort Lauderdale, were charged by Indictment with receiving explosive materials, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 842(a)(3)(A), and improper storage of explosives, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 842(j). Bruce McFadden Sr. was also charged with being a felon in possession of explosives, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 842(i)(1).

 

According to the court record, including allegations contained in the indictment, on or about June 30, 2016, in Broward County, Bruce McFadden Sr. and Bruce McFadden Jr. did knowingly cause to be transported and receive, and did knowingly store explosives, that is, 1.3G fireworks containing black powder, flash powder, a safety fuse, perchlorate explosive mixtures, pyrotechnic compositions, without the required license and permit and not in conformity with regulations. McFadden Sr. was previously convicted of a felony and as such was not lawfully permitted to possess the explosives.

 

The defendants had their initial appearances today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick M. Hunt. McFadden Sr. is scheduled to have a pre-trial detention hearing on March 14, 2017. McFadden Jr. is scheduled for a bond hearing on March 10, 2017.

 

An Indictment merely contains allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the ATF in this matter. Mr. Greenberg also thanked the Lauderhill Fire Department, Lauderhill Police Department and Broward County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rilwan Adeduntan.

 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

 

A Miami-Dade County resident pled guilty, on February 28, 2017, to committing six armed commercial robberies throughout Pinecrest, South Miami, and Coral Gables.

 

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade State Attorney; Peter Forcelli, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division; Juan Perez, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD); Daniel Oates, Chief, Miami Beach Police Department (MBPD); Rene Landa, Chief, South Miami Police Department; Edward Hudak Jr., Chief, Coral Gables Police Department; Samuel Ceballos, Jr., Chief, Pinecrest Police Department; and Rodolfo Llanes, Chief, City of Miami Police Department (MPD), made the announcement.

 

Zeddrick Smith, 46, pled guilty to all six robbery counts that were charged in the indictment, in addition to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and a single count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Smith faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Court Chief Judge K. Michael Moore on May 11, 2017.

 

According to the court record, including the agreed upon factual proffer, defendant Smith committed six armed robberies of commercial establishments. On November 24, 2016, November 27, 2016, November 29, 2016, December 6, 2016, December 8, 2016, and December 11, 2016, Smith robbed various victims at gunpoint at restaurants and food stores in South Florida. Pursuant to the investigation, officers recovered the loaded firearm that had been used in the robberies, in Smith’s vehicle. At the time of the robberies, Smith was a convicted felon who was prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition.

 

Mr. Greenberg commends the investigative efforts of ATF, MDPD, Miami Beach Police Department, South Miami Police Department, Coral Gables Police Department, Pinecrest Police Department, and MPD in relation to this case. This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Marianne Curtis from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.

 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

 

Today, following a month-long jury trial before U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr., a government contractor was convicted of sexually exploiting and trafficking in minors, while working overseas.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Christopher Rennie Glenn, 37, with ties to West Palm Beach, Florida was convicted of eight out of ten charges submitted to the federal jury: one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by fraud and of a minor in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1594(c); one count of sex trafficking by fraud and of a minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591(a)(1); four counts of attempting to engage in sex trafficking by fraud and of a minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1594(a); one count of traveling overseas with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(b); one count of sexually assaulting a minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2243(a); and one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(A) (Case No. 15-CR-20632). Glenn was acquitted on the two remaining charges of conspiracy and sex trafficking. All of the charged conduct occurred outside of the United States, in either Iraq or Honduras, and largely while Glenn, a United States citizen, was working as a network system administrator contracted by the United States Department of Defense. Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1596, 3261, and 3271, provide for extraterritorial jurisdiction in the sex trafficking and child exploitation offenses charged.

Glenn engaged in an elaborate scheme to sexually exploit young girls between the ages of 13 and 16 years of age in 2010 and from 2012 through 2014 in Honduras, where he had moved to work at the U.S. Army Southern Command’s Joint Task Force Bravo, in Soto Cano Air Base. Evidence at trial revealed that Glenn, with the aid of coconspirators, fraudulently recruited young girls living in very poor rural villages to work as housekeepers at his home. In exchange, Glenn promised to pay a significant amount of money to the families. Shortly after the girls’ arrival to Glenn’s home in Honduras, he sexually assaulted the girls, or sought to “marry” the minors to engage in sexual acts with them. Some victims testified that Glenn gave them pills that made them sleepy and dizzy before engaging in sexual acts with them. A government expert witness testified that some pills seized by law enforcement from Glenn’s Honduras residence in March of 2014 were determined to be drugs that can be used as sedatives and date rape drugs. At trial, the Government also introduced evidence that Glenn had engaged in sexual acts with a minor female from Mexico beginning in 2002, when the minor was only 13-years-old. The minor resided with the defendant in California until 2006. In 2005, Glenn possessed electronic images of this sexual abuse in Iraq while working as a government contract worker. These images of child pornography were also recovered from Glenn’s residence in Honduras in 2014 and were the subject of the possession of child pornography charge.

Glenn was initially arrested in February 2014, and charged in the Southern District of Florida with national-security and espionage related violations (Case No. 14-CR-80031-Marra). In 2015, Glenn pled guilty to charges in that case and was sentenced to a ten-year term of imprisonment.

The child exploitation charges are the culmination of a three-year long investigation led by the FBI Miami Field Office’s Violent Crimes Against Children Squad. The case was prosecuted by Special Prosecutions Assistant United States Attorneys Barbara A. Martinez and Vanessa Singh Johannes from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

 

 

 

The former Chief Financial Officer of Cay Clubs Resorts and Marinas (Cay Clubs) was convicted Friday evening by a federal jury of conspiracy, bank fraud, and tax offenses. The jury verdict was returned after a two-week trial before Chief U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Timothy Mowery, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG), made the announcement.

David W. Schwarz, 60, of Orlando, was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349, two counts of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344, and one count of interference with the administration of the IRS, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7212(a). Schwarz faces a statutory maximum of 30 years in prison for each of the conspiracy and bank fraud offenses, and 3 years for the tax offense. Sentencing is scheduled for May 1, 2017, at the federal courthouse in Key West.

According to evidence at trial, Schwarz was the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Cay Clubs, which operated purported luxury resorts in the Florida Keys, Clearwater, Orlando, Las Vegas, and elsewhere. Between 2004 and 2008, Cay Clubs grew to more than 1,000 employees and became one of the largest employers in the Florida Keys. Schwarz, who was the one-third owner, and Fred Davis Clark, Jr., a/k/a Dave Clark, who was the two-thirds owner, began Cay Clubs in 2004 with fraudulent sales of Cay Clubs units to insiders, using money from Cay Clubs bank accounts to fund the cash to close for purchases, while obtaining mortgage financing from lending institutions. These fraudulent sales were used in marketing materials to falsely show demand for Cay Clubs units and to inflate prices, as Cay Clubs was in reality purchasing units from itself. Proceeds of these sales were diverted to Schwarz and Clark.

Trial evidence established that Cay Clubs raised more than $300 million from approximately 1,400 investors, who purchased units in Cay Clubs developments. Schwarz and Clark failed to remodel the dilapidated properties as they promised investors, while taking millions of dollars out of the company for their own benefit. During the operation of Cay Clubs from 2004 through 2008, Schwarz and Clark diverted more than $30 million in proceeds for themselves, including millions of dollars in cash transfers, that was used to purchase property and other businesses, including a gold mine, a rum distillery, aircraft, and a coal reclamation business.

Trial evidence further showed that as Cay Clubs faced dwindling sales due to its failure to upgrade the dilapidated properties in 2006, Schwarz, Clark, and others engaged in additional fraudulent sales of Cay Clubs units to insiders, including Clark’s family members. These mortgage loans were used to prevent Cay Clubs from defaulting on commercial debts. The documents used to obtain these mortgages included falsified signatures and notary attestations, and had Cay Clubs acting as the seller while Schwarz provided the cash to close so that mortgage loans could be obtained to fund the sales.

During the course of this scheme, Schwarz and Clark did not file any corporate tax return for $74 million in income generated by the Cay Clubs entities. Furthermore, neither Schwarz or Clark filed any individual tax return for these years until after an investigation of Cay Clubs by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 2010 and 2011, Schwarz filed false individual tax returns for tax years 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively, in which he substantially underreported his income for these tax years and concealed his receipt of millions of dollars in proceeds.

On December 11, 2015, Dave Clark, 59, formerly a resident of Tavernier, was convicted by a federal jury in connection with related bank fraud charges and obstruction of the SEC. He was sentenced on February 21, 2016, to 40 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez. Former Cay Clubs sales executives Barry Graham, 59, and Ricky Lynn Stokes, 54, both formerly of Ft. Myers, previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in related cases and were sentenced to 60 months, and 30 months, respectively.

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI and FHFA-OIG, and the extensive assistance of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office. This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jerrob Duffy, James V. Hayes, and Alison Lehr.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Two Miami residents pleaded guilty today to fraud charges stemming from their roles in a $20 million home health care fraud scheme.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office, and Special Agent-in-Charge Brian Swain of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS)’s Miami Field Office made the announcement.

Mildrey Gonzalez, 61, of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez of the Southern District of Florida. Milka Alfaro, 40, also of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud before Judge Martinez. Sentencing for both defendants has been scheduled for May 11 before Judge Martinez.

As part of their guilty pleas, Gonzalez and Alfaro admitted that they were co-owners and operators of seven home health care agencies purported to do business in Miami-Dade County: Inar Home Care Service Corp., MA Home Health Inc., Golden Home Health Care Inc., Nova Home Health Care Inc., Finetech Home Health Inc., Homestead Home Health Care LLC and Metro Dade Home Health Inc. According to admissions made as part of their guilty pleas, Gonzalez and Alfaro recruited and paid nominees to falsely represent themselves as the owners of the home health care agencies, thereby concealing their ownership interests from Medicare and the general public. Gonzalez and Alfaro further admitted that they paid bribes and kickbacks to medical professionals, including doctors, in return for the provision of prescriptions for home health care services and referrals of Medicare beneficiaries to their home health care agencies; that they paid patient recruiters bribes and kickbacks in return for referrals of Medicare patients to the home health care agencies; and that in some cases, the Medicare beneficiaries did not need the home health care services for which Medicare paid.

Gonzalez and Alfaro admitted that as a result of the fraudulent scheme, Medicare paid approximately $20 million to the above-referenced home health care agencies.

and Alfaro were charged in a superseding indictment returned on July 20, 2016, along with Adriana Jalil, 66, of Miami, who served as a patient recruiter, and Luis Luzardo, 48, also of Miami, who utilized sham staffing companies to launder money. Jalil and Luzardo pleaded guilty and were sentenced by Judge Martinez earlier this year to 24 and 37 months in prison, respectively.

The USSS, FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lisa H. Miller, Evelyn B. Sheehan and Alison W. Lehr of the Southern District of Florida, and Fraud Section Trial Attorney L. Rush Atkinson, are prosecuting the case.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 3,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $11 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Palm Beach County resident Frank Earle Noyes III was sentenced today to 384 months’ imprisonment by United States District Judge Kenneth A. Marra, after previously pleading guilty to the production of child pornography, in violation of Title, United States Code, Section 2251(a)(e) and enticing a minor to engage in an illegal sexual activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2422(b).

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

According to the court record, Noyes entered into an online chat with a 12-year old minor female who lived in Minnesota. During the chat, Noyes sent the minor child pornographic images that he produced of a 5-year old minor engaged in illegal sexual conduct. Noyes was arrested and law enforcement found additional child pornographic images that he produced on his phone of a 3-year old minor female engaged in illegal sexual conduct. During the chat session with the 12-year old child, Noyes repeatedly enticed her to send him pornographic images of herself.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, Plymouth Police Department, Minnesota, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, and the South Florida Minor Vice Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lothrop Morris and Ellen Cohen.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

On February 28, 2017, in Fort Pierce, Florida, a Vero Beach husband and wife were sentenced to federal prison by United States District Court Judge Robin L. Rosenberg, for their involvement in a conspiracy to import controlled substances, commonly referred to as “Molly,” from China into the United States.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Mark Selby, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Antonio J. Gomez, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, and Adolphus P. Wright, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, made the announcement.

Julius Andrew Reason, III, 32, was sentenced to 235 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to import a controlled substance, Dibutylone- HCI, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 952(a) and 963; and conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to manufacture and distribute a controlled substance- Dibutylone HCI, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846 and 841(a)(1).

Reason’s wife, Venteria Leanet Reason, 28, was sentenced to 135 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to import a controlled substance- Dibutylone HCI, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 952(a) and 963.

According to Court records, in January of 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers conducted a border search of an international mail parcel shipped from Shanghai, China, destined for a U.S. Post Office (P.O.) Box located in Vero Beach, Florida, and found the parcel to contain approximately one kilogram of Dibutylone HCI, a synthetic cathinone, a/k/a “bath salts,” a schedule I controlled substance. The Reasons convinced a co-defendant to open a P.O Box. On January 14, 2016, Julius Reason contacted the Vero Beach Post Office, inquiring about the whereabouts of two parcels. On January 15, 2016, Julius Reason was notified that his packages were ready for pickup. A codefendant then visited the post office and picked up the packages, before meeting Julius Reason and turning over the parcels. When Julius Reason saw law enforcement he fled from the scene, throwing both parcels.

During the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized items including, a loaded 9mm firearm from Julius Reason’s vehicle and electronic devices, wire transfer records, Chinese chemical company business cards, and $10,168.00 in U.S. currency from his residences.

The investigation further revealed that between June 2014 and January 2016, Julius Reason and his wife Venteria Reason sent wire transfers to China exceeding $59,000. Julius and Venteria Reason, exchanged communications with two separate Chinese chemical company representatives discussing prices and ordering synthetic cathinones, including Dibutylone and Ethylone, Schedule I controlled substances. The defendants also communicated by text message regarding the local delivery and sales of another controlled substance, commonly referred to as “Molly.”

Between June 2014, and January 18, 2016, at least 20 parcels were shipped from China to U.S. P.O. Boxes and addresses linked to Julius and Venteria Reason, in the Southern District of Florida. Five of those parcels were seized by law enforcement and thirteen parcels were delivered. Ultimately, they were held responsible for over 10 kilograms of Ethylone and Dibuylone.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI, the USPIS and DEA. Mr. Ferrer also thanked the Indian River Sheriff’s Office for their assistance with this matter. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Two Miami residents pleaded guilty today to fraud charges stemming from their roles in a $20 million home health care fraud scheme.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office, and Special Agent in Charge Brian Swain of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS)’s Miami Field Office made the announcement.

Mildrey Gonzalez, 61, of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez of the Southern District of Florida.  Milka Alfaro, 40, also of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud before Judge Martinez.  Sentencing for both defendants has been scheduled for May 11 before Judge Martinez.  

As part of their guilty pleas, Gonzalez and Alfaro admitted that they were co-owners and operators of seven home health care agencies purported to do business in Miami-Dade County:  Inar Home Care Service Corp., MA Home Health Inc., Golden Home Health Care Inc., Nova Home Health Care Inc., Finetech Home Health Inc., Homestead Home Health Care LLC and Metro Dade Home Health Inc.  According to admissions made as part of their guilty pleas, Gonzalez and Alfaro recruited and paid nominees to falsely represent themselves as the owners of the home health care agencies, thereby concealing their ownership interests from Medicare and the general public.  Gonzalez and Alfaro further admitted that they paid bribes and kickbacks to medical professionals, including doctors, in return for the provision of prescriptions for home health care services and referrals of Medicare beneficiaries to their home health care agencies; that they paid patient recruiters bribes and kickbacks in return for referrals of Medicare patients to the home health care agencies; and that in some cases, the Medicare beneficiaries did not need the home health care services for which Medicare paid.  

Gonzalez and Alfaro admitted that as a result of the fraudulent scheme, Medicare paid approximately $20 million to the above-referenced home health care agencies.  

Gonzalez and Alfaro were charged in a superseding indictment returned on July 20, 2016, along with Adriana Jalil, 66, of Miami, who served as a patient recruiter, and Luis Luzardo, 48, also of Miami, who utilized sham staffing companies to launder money.  Jalil and Luzardo pleaded guilty and were sentenced by Judge Martinez earlier this year to 24 and 37 months in prison, respectively.    
            
The USSS, FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.  Fraud Section Trial Attorney L. Rush Atkinson, former Fraud Section Attorney, current Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa H. Miller and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evelyn B. Sheehan and Alison W. Lehr of the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.  

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 3,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $11 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

A Church Hill, Maryland resident pleaded guilty today in federal court to one count of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and one count of attempting to transfer obscene materials to a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida and Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

 

Lee Robert Moore, 38, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley of the Southern District of Florida. Moore was employed by the U.S. Secret Service-Uniformed Division and was assigned to the White House at the time of his arrest on Nov. 9, 2015, and has remained in custody since that time. Moore has since been terminated from his Secret Service position.

 

According to admissions made in connection with his plea, Moore maintained a profile on the social media application “Meet24,” which provides a mobile-based platform for exchanging digital images, as well as voice and text messages. Delaware State Police Detectives with the Delaware Child Predator Task Force created a profile on this site, posing as a 14-year-old girl, with whom Moore engaged in a number of online chat sessions, via the “Meet24” and “Kik” mobile apps over a two-month period, including while Moore was at work. A number of the online chats between Moore and the undercover officers posing as a female minor were sexual in nature and, on several occasions, Moore sent pictures of himself, including one sexually explicit image.

 

According to the plea documents, after his arrest, law enforcement discovered that Moore had communicated with a minor in Florida. Moore admitted that in those communications, he sent sexually explicit images of himself and enticed the minor to send sexually explicit photos of herself as well. Moore engaged in the same type of behavior with a 14-year-old girl in Texas and another 17-year-old girl in Missouri. Moore requested that his federal charges in Delaware be transferred to the Southern District of Florida so that he could plead guilty to both charges at one time.

 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Delaware Child Predator Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Steinberg of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Austin M. Berry of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) are prosecuting the case.

 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A Church Hill, Maryland resident pleaded guilty today in federal court to one count of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and one count of attempting to transfer obscene materials to a minor, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida.  

Lee Robert Moore, 38, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley of the Southern District of Florida.  Moore was employed by the U.S. Secret Service-Uniformed Division and was assigned to the White House at the time of his arrest on Nov. 9, 2015, and has remained in custody since that time.  Moore has since been terminated from his Secret Service position.  

According to admissions made in connection with his plea, Moore maintained a profile on the social media application “Meet24,” which provides a mobile-based platform for exchanging digital images, as well as voice and text messages.  Delaware State Police Detectives with the Delaware Child Predator Task Force created a profile on this site, posing as a 14-year-old girl, with whom Moore engaged in a number of online chat sessions, via the “Meet24” and “Kik” mobile apps over a two-month period, including while Moore was at work.  A number of the online chats between Moore and the undercover officers posing as a female minor were sexual in nature and, on several occasions, Moore sent pictures of himself, including one sexually explicit image.  

According to the plea documents, after his arrest, law enforcement discovered that Moore had communicated with a minor in Florida.  Moore admitted that in those communications, he sent sexually explicit images of himself and enticed the minor to send sexually explicit photos of herself as well.  Moore engaged in the same type of behavior with a 14-year-old girl in Texas and another 17-year-old girl in Missouri.  Moore requested that his federal charges in Delaware be transferred to the Southern District of Florida so that he could plead guilty to both charges at one time.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Delaware Child Predator Task Force investigated the case.  Trial Attorney Austin M. Berry of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Steinberg of the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.  

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.

Today a federal grand jury sitting in West Palm Beach returned a nine-count Superseding Indictment charging three individuals with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and various substantive bank fraud offenses, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1349 and 1344.

 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Timothy Mowery, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Housing Finance Agent, Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG), Southeast Region, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Division, made the announcement.

 

George Heaton, 73, of West Palm Beach, Florida, Deborah Dentry Baggett, 54, of Greenville, Tennessee (formerly of Palm Beach County), and Eric Granitur, 59, of Vero Beach, Florida are charged in the Superseding Indictment. If convicted, the defendants face a statutory maximum term of 30 years’ imprisonment, a $1 million fine, and mandatory restitution, on each count in the indictment.

 

According to allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment:

 

From 2006 through 2009, defendants Heaton, Baggett, Granitur and others conspired to perpetrate a complex mortgage fraud scheme against various FDIC-insured lenders by concealing incentives offered and paid to buyers of condominium units at the Vero Beach Hotel and Club in Vero Beach, a luxury ocean-front condo-tel developed by Palm Beach County based real estate developer George Heaton.

 

The defendants and their coconspirators concealed and misrepresented the amount of seller paid incentives, including cash-to-close, cash rebates, and seller-provided cash deposits, and transferred incentive money through a Palm Beach County law firm’s bank account in order to conceal the fact that the funds were coming from the seller, and not the buyer, as was required by the mortgage lenders.

 

On several occasions, defendant Baggett took large sums of money, without permission, from the bank account of another client of her accounting business to use for deposit and down payment money for condo purchases. Defendant Baggett also forged client names on sale and purchase contracts, and provided the personal financial information of those other clients without their permission, all to give defendant Heaton’s commercial lender the false impression that he had obtained actual buyers for the units, in order to maintain construction financing.

 

The fraud scheme caused financial institutions to fund mortgage loans, totaling more than $20 million.

 

Mr. Ferrer commends the investigative efforts of the FHFA-OIG and FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Joseph A. Capone.

 

An Indictment is a formal charging documents notifying the defendant of the charges. All persons charged by indictment are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A Broward County School District employee has been charged with obstructing a drug investigation.

 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

 

Porsha Session, 31, of Boynton Beach, Florida, was charged by Indictment with obstructing an official proceeding, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1512(c)(2). If convicted, Session faces a statutory maximum term of 20 years’ imprisonment of 20 and a fine up to $250,000.

 

According to the indictment, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were investigating drug trafficking and other criminal offenses in Lauderhill, Florida. Session’s relative was one of the detectives from the Lauderhill Police Department assigned to the Lauderhill investigation. During the course of the Lauderhill investigation, law enforcement, including the defendant’s relative, received information, including details from a confidential informant, regarding individuals involved with drug trafficking, and vehicles used by and telephone numbers associated with, members of the criminal enterprise.

 

Session obtained information provided to her relative concerning the Lauderhill investigation. Session, while working as an employee of the Broward County School District, then made a series of telephone calls to a target of the drug trafficking investigation and warned the individual that he/she and other persons were being monitored by law enforcement. Session also warned the target that an inside source, an informant, was providing details of the criminal enterprise to law enforcement. As a result of Session’s disclosure, the target changed his/her telephone number in an attempt to avoid detection by law enforcement and the confidential informant was moved for his/her safety.

 

Mr. Ferrer commended the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Lauderhill Police Department, and Sunrise Police Department for their investigative assistance with this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey N. Kaplan.

An indictment is a formal charging document notifying the defendant of the criminal charges. All persons charged in an indictment are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

An Ashdown, Arkansas, resident has been arrested and charged by criminal complaint with traveling in foreign commerce with the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(b).

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Mark Selby, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), made the announcement.

According to allegations made in the criminal complaint, Daniel John Pye, 35, originally of Bradenton, Florida, traveled from the Southern District of Florida to Haiti on multiple occasions from the years 2008 through 2011 for the purpose of sexually abusing minors. Pye, who ran a missionary orphanage in Jacmel, Haiti, is alleged to have engaged in illicit sexual conduct with minor female children who resided at his orphanage.

Since leaving Haiti, Pye is believed to have resided in the Liberty Hill, Texas, Texarkana, Texas, and Ashdown, Arkansas, areas.

Law enforcement encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) through the toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing the online tip form at https://www.ice.gov/webform/hsi-tip-form.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI. Mr. Ferrer thanked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for their assistance. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Widlanski.

A criminal complaint is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Gitano Pierre Bryant, Jr., 56, of Palmetto Bay, was sentenced today to a consecutive term of 48 months’ imprisonment, by U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga, for fraudulently evading $13 million in Federal taxes on imported cigars. Bryant, who was on probation at the time of the offense, was previously sentenced to 36 months’ imprisonment, by Chief U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore, for violating the terms of his probation.

 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Tom Crone, Assistant Administrator for Field Operations, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), and Thomas J. Holloman, Interim Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Washington D.C. Field Office, made the announcement.

 

Bryant previously pled guilty to one count of mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341. According to court documents, Bryant unlawfully enriched himself by evading Federal Tobacco Excise Tax properly due and owing on imported cigars. According to court documents, Bryant lied about the price he paid for the cigars and the price for which he sold them.

 

According to the court record, including the factual proffer supporting his guilty plea, Bryant was the owner of Havana ’59 Cigar Company (“Havana 59”). Between 2008 and 2014, Havana 59 was a licensed importer of tobacco products, including cigars. Bryant consistently underpaid the Federal Tobacco Excise Tax due on imported cigars and, in an attempt to cover up the scheme, altered documents to conceal the price he paid for foreign-made cigars. Bryant continued to underpay taxes on imported cigars after May of 2015, when he was convicted and placed on Federal probation for evading Federal Tobacco Excise Tax due on cigarettes. Between January of 2012 and June of 2016, Bryant evaded over $13 million in Federal Tobacco Excise Tax.

 

In addition to the imposed prison sentence, Bryant was also ordered to pay over $9 million in restitution to U.S. Customs and Border Protection—the agency tasked with collecting excise tax on imported tobacco products.

 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the TTB and IRS-CI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher B. Browne.

 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

On February 24, 2017, Marie M. Jean-Francois, 31, of Boca Raton, was sentenced to 51 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for her involvement in a scheme to obtain unauthorized loans for students in a licensed practical nurse (“LPN”) program by defrauding the Department of Education.

 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Yessyka Santana, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Education, Office of Inspector General (ED-OIG), made the announcement.

 

Jean-Francois, previously pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.

 

According to court documents, Jean-Francois engaged in a scheme to defraud the Department of Education by submitting fraudulent student loan applications on-line. Jean-Francois was an employee/director of the Coral Ridge Training School, an institution that offers a licensed practical nurse training program. Jean-Francois falsely told students that they would receive a grant that would cover the costs of the program. One evening, during a training class, Jean-Francois demanded that the students provide their personal identification numbers (PIN), identification information that is issued to students when they file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. Jean-Francois then used the students’ PINs and other personal information to electronically sign promissory loan notes without the students’ consent or authorization. Many students did not learn that the unauthorized loans had been taken out in their names until they began receiving letters from the loan servicing companies.

 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the ED-OIG. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia R. Wood.

 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Ali Caby, a/k/a “Alex Caby,” 40, a U.S. permanent resident currently residing in Bulgaria; Arash Caby, a/k/a “Axel Caby,” 43, of Miami, Florida; and Marjan Caby, 34, of Miami, Florida, were arrested and charged with exporting prohibited articles to Syria, in violation of the Syria trade embargo, commerce regulations and a U.S. Department of Treasury designation based on an Indictment charging eleven individuals and one foreign company. The defendants were charged by indictment for their alleged participation in a conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations by exporting dual-use goods, that is, articles that have both civilian and military application. The dual-use goods were exported to Syrian Arab Airlines, the Syrian government’s airline, which is an entity designated and blocked by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for transporting weapons and ammunition to Syria in conjunction with Hizballah, a terrorist organization, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Also charged in the indictment were Adib Zeno, Rizk Ali, Ammar Al Mounajed, Zhelyaz Andreev, Mihaela Nenova, Lyubka Hristova, Iskren Georgiev, Ivan Sergiev, and Syrian Arab Airlines, a/k/a “Syrian Air.”

The announcement was made by Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary B. McCord, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Robert Luzzi of the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement (DOC) Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Mark Selby of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI).

Specifically, the defendants are charged with: conspiracy to violate to IEEPA and to defraud the U.S. Government, in violation of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 371; substantive violations of IEEPA and the EAR, specifically Title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 746.9(a), regarding the Syrian Embargo; smuggling goods from the U.S., in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 554(a); submitting false or misleading export information, in violation of Title 13, U.S. Code, Section 305; conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section1956 (h); and false statements, in violation of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1001. 

According to court documents, Ali Caby ran the Bulgaria office of AW-Tronics, a Miami, Florida export company that was managed by Arash Caby, and which shipped and exported various aircraft parts and equipment to Syrian Arab Airlines. Marjan Caby, AW-Tronics’ export compliance officer and auditor, facilitated these exports by submitting false and misleading electronic export information to federal agencies. All three defendants closely supervised and encouraged subordinate employees of AW-Tronics in the willful exportation of the parts and equipment to Syrian Arab Airlines, whose activities have assisted the Syrian government’s violent crackdown on its people.

An indictment is a formal charging document notifying the defendant of the criminal charges. All persons charged in an indictment are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, DOC, ICE-HSI, Defense Criminal Investigative Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ricardo Del Toro of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Matthew Walczewski of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

Two Miami-Dade County residents and one foreign national were arrested and charged with exporting prohibited articles to Syria, in violation of the Syria trade embargo, commerce regulations and a U.S. Department of Treasury designation based on an Indictment charging eleven individuals and one foreign company.

 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Mary B. McCord, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Robert Luzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement (DOC) Miami Field Office, and Mark Selby, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), made the announcement.

 

Ali Caby, a/k/a “Alex Caby”, 40, Arash Caby, a/k/a “Axel Caby”, 43, and Marjan Caby, 34, are charged by indictment for their alleged participation in a conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations by exporting dual-use goods, that is, articles that have both civilian and military application, to Syrian Arab Airlines, the Syrian government’s airline, which is an entity designated and blocked by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for transporting weapons and ammunition to Syria in conjunction with Hizballah, a terrorist organization, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Also charged in the indictment were Adib Zeno, Rizk Ali, Ammar Al Mounajed, Zhelyaz Andreev, Mihaela Nenova, Lyubka Hristova, Iskren Georgiev, Ivan Sergiev, and Syrian Arab Airlines, a/k/a “Syrian Air.”

 

Specifically, the defendants are charged with: conspiracy to violate to IEEPA and to defraud the U.S. Government, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371; substantive violations of IEEPA and the EAR, specifically Title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 746.9(a), regarding the Syrian Embargo; smuggling goods from the U.S., in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 554(a); submitting false or misleading export information, in violation of Title 13, United States Code, Section 305; conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section1956 (h); and false statements, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001.

 

According to court documents, Ali Caby ran the Bulgaria office of AW-Tronics, a Miami export company that was managed by Arash Caby, and which shipped and exported various aircraft parts and equipment to Syrian Arab Airlines. Marjan Caby, as AW-Tronics’ export compliance officer and auditor, facilitated these exports by submitting false and misleading electronic export information to federal agencies. All three defendants closely supervised and encouraged subordinate employees of AW-Tronics in the willful exportation of the parts and equipment to Syrian Arab Airlines, whose activities have assisted the Syrian government’s violent crackdown on its people.

 

An indictment is a formal charging document notifying the defendant of the criminal charges. All persons charged in an indictment are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, DOC, ICE-HSI, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ricardo Del Toro of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Matthew Walczewski of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov..

Today, the administrator of a Miami-area home health agency was sentenced to a 126 month prison term for his role in a $2.5 million Medicare fraud scheme.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Division and Special Agent in Charge Shimon Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office made the announcement.

Raciel Leon, 42, of Miami, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch of the Southern District of Florida. In December 2016, he was convicted after a two-week jury trial of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care bribes and kickbacks.

to evidence presented at trial, Leon was the manager of Mercy Home Care Inc. (Mercy) and a billing employee for D&D&D Home Health Care Inc. (DDD), both of which were home health agencies in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The evidence showed that Leon and his co-conspirators used the companies to submit false claims to Medicare that were based on services that were not medically necessary, not actually provided, and for patients that were procured through the payment of illegal kickbacks to doctors and patient recruiters. According to evidence presented at trial, Leon submitted claims to Medicare for beneficiaries who were admitted to Mercy and DDD only as a result of forged prescriptions and falsified medical documentation; backdated claims for services supposedly rendered years prior; and claims for beneficiaries who were coached to say they needed services, when in fact they were not homebound. Leon also destroyed evidence, including a kickback ledger, prior to his arrest.

The evidence introduced at trial further established that between Oct. 2014 and June 2015, Medicare paid approximately $2.5 million for false and fraudulent claims submitted by Mercy and DDD.

Ten of Leon’s co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial in this and other related cases filed in the Southern District of Florida.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Trial Attorneys Lisa Miller and Angela Adams of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Today, the administrator of a Miami-area home health agency was sentenced to a 126 month prison term for his role in a $2.5 million Medicare fraud scheme. 

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Division and Special Agent in Charge Shimon Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office made the announcement.

Raciel Leon, 42, of Miami, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch of the Southern District of Florida.  In December 2016, he was convicted after a two-week jury trial of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care bribes and kickbacks. 

According to evidence presented at trial, Leon was the manager of Mercy Home Care Inc.  (Mercy) and a billing employee for D&D&D Home Health Care Inc. (DDD), both of which were home health agencies in Miami-Dade County, Florida.  The evidence showed that Leon and his co-conspirators used the companies to submit false claims to Medicare that were based on services that were not medically necessary, not actually provided, and for patients that were procured through the payment of illegal kickbacks to doctors and patient recruiters.   According to evidence presented at trial, Leon submitted claims to Medicare for beneficiaries who were admitted to Mercy and DDD only as a result of forged prescriptions and falsified medical documentation; backdated claims for services supposedly rendered years prior; and claims for beneficiaries who were coached to say they needed services, when in fact they were not homebound.  Leon also destroyed evidence, including a kickback ledger, prior to his arrest. 

The evidence introduced at trial further established that between Oct. 2014 and June 2015, Medicare paid approximately $2.5 million for false and fraudulent claims submitted by Mercy and DDD. 

Ten of Leon’s co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial in this and other related cases filed in the Southern District of Florida.  

The case was investigated by the FBI and the HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.  Trial Attorneys Lisa Miller and Angela Adams of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

Manuel Perez Gonzalez, 39, of Miami, was sentenced yesterday to 100 years in prison, by U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro, after having been convicted at trial of distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography. Gonzalez was also sentenced to 25 years of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Mark Selby, Special Agent in Charge, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, Juan J. Perez, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), and Daniel J. Oates, Chief, Miami Beach Police Department (MBPD), made the announcement.

According to court documents and evidence at trial, on October 22, 2015, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Gonzalez’s home after receiving information that a computer user at the residence was downloading child pornography. While executing the search warrant, agents found Gonzalez’s laptop and a backup disc from another computer. A forensic examination of the devices revealed photographs of Gonzalez and evidence of the defendant’s use of social media. In addition, the forensic examination revealed numerous videos and images of child pornography. Residents from the searched home testified that Gonzalez used the laptop that was found to contain pornographic images.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI, USSS, MDPD, and MBPD. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Kobrinski, Benjamin Widlanski, and Ignacio Vazquez.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Court Awards Government Over $12 Million in damages and Imposes Additional $10 Million in Civil Penalties

 

On Feb. 15, U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke entered a Final Judgment of more than $20 million in favor of the United States in a civil suit against FastTrain II Corp. d/b/a FastTrain College (FastTrain) and its President and owner, Alejandro Amor (Amor), for having defrauded the U.S. Department of Education (ED) by submitting falsified documents to obtain federal student aid funds in connection with ineligible students, announced U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida.

At its peak, FastTrain operated seven Florida campuses in Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Duval counties. From at least January 2010 through June 2012, when FastTrain closed, FastTrain and Amor knowingly submitted fake high school diploma and GED information to receive improper federal Title IV funds – through the Federal Pell Grant Program, the Federal Direct Loan Program, the Federal Family Education Loan Program, and the Campus Based Programs that financially assist eligible students in obtaining a post-secondary education. Also, at Amor’s direction, FastTrain admissions employees instructed and counseled ineligible prospective students to lie on their federal student aid applications. As a result of Amor’s fraudulent scheme and false representations of eligibility, FastTrain received millions of dollars of unearned student financial aid.

The Court’s ruling was clear: “The student victims in this case were especially vulnerable. They were young people who, for whatever reasons, had not graduated high school. Realizing there are few jobs one can obtain without a high-school diploma or equivalent degree, they turned to FastTrain, hoping to learn marketable skills to improve their chances of making a decent living. FastTrain aggressively recruited these students, and then used fraud to make the Government think they were eligible for federal aid and loans. FastTrain bilked the Government out of millions of dollars, most of which ended up in Amor’s pockets. As for the student victims, many now carry debt that will be enormously difficult to pay off with what they can earn working the low-level jobs for which they are qualified. The effects of Amor’s fraudulent acts are thus abhorrent and far-reaching.”

The Court awarded damages in favor of the United States in excess of $12 million. In addition, the Court imposed over $10 million in civil penalties against the defendants.

“Alejandro Amor and his co-conspirators preyed on vulnerable men and women who sought educational assistance to improve their quality of life,” said U.S. Attorney Ferrer. “As a result, Fast Train defrauded the students out of a legitimate education and the U.S. government out of federal funds that were intended to help those in need of support. The multi-million dollar penalties and damages in this civil suit, in addition to the lengthy prison term imposed against Mr. Amor in the criminal proceedings should serve as a strong warning that fraud schemes do not pay. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners will continue to use both civil enforcement and criminal laws – to protect our taxpayer dollars and ensure that individuals who seek to enhance their lives through a quality education are able to do so without falling victim to devastating schemes.”

“Mr. Amor knowingly and willfully took advantage of innocent students and defrauded America’s taxpayers in a deliberate and methodical way. With his prison sentence and this judgment, he is being held accountable for his criminal actions,” said Special Agent in Charge Yessyka Santana of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Southeastern Regional Office. “I’m proud of the work of the Office of Inspector General and our law enforcement partners in this matter and continuing our work to protect Federal student aid from this type of calculated plunder.”

The United States pursued this civil case alongside criminal proceedings filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida against Amor and other defendants. In November 2015, after a 23-day trial in United States of America v. Alejandro Amor, Case No. 1:14-cr-20750-JAL(s)-1 (S.D. Fla.), a jury convicted Amor of one count of conspiracy to steal Government funds and 12 counts of theft of Government funds. On May 2, 2016, Amor was sentenced to 97 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Joan A. Lenard.

The civil case is captioned United States of America, Plaintiff vs. FastTrain II Corp. d/b/a FastTrain College, and Alejandro Amor, Defendants, Case No.: 1:12-cv-21431-COOKE/TORRES, United States District Court, Southern District of Florida. The criminal investigation was underway when a lawsuit was filed by a FastTrain admissions officer, under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act. The admissions officer was later convicted of offenses related to FastTrain’s misconduct and subsequently was dismissed from the civil suit.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James A. Weinkle litigated the civil case. U.S. Attorney Ferrer commended the contributions of U.S. Department of Education Office of General Counsel attorneys Russell Wolff and Christina Bixby and investigative efforts of Special Agent Jason Williams and former Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kristen Frias, and Special Agent Joel Veiguela and Nicole Eisenzopf of the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education and Special Agent Mary Wilson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

 

Court Awards Government Over $12 Million in damages and Imposes Additional $10 Million in Civil Penalties

On Feb. 15, U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke entered a Final Judgment of more than $20 million in favor of the United States in a civil suit against FastTrain II Corp. d/b/a FastTrain College (FastTrain) and its President and owner, Alejandro Amor (Amor), for having defrauded the U.S. Department of Education (ED) by submitting falsified documents to obtain federal student aid funds in connection with ineligible students, announced U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida.

At its peak, FastTrain operated seven Florida campuses in Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Duval counties. From at least January 2010 through June 2012, when FastTrain closed, FastTrain and Amor knowingly submitted fake high school diploma and GED information to receive improper federal Title IV funds – through the Federal Pell Grant Program, the Federal Direct Loan Program, the Federal Family Education Loan Program, and the Campus Based Programs that financially assist eligible students in obtaining a post-secondary education. Also, at Amor’s direction, FastTrain admissions employees instructed and counseled ineligible prospective students to lie on their federal student aid applications. As a result of Amor’s fraudulent scheme and false representations of eligibility, FastTrain received millions of dollars of unearned student financial aid.

The Court’s ruling was clear: “The student victims in this case were especially vulnerable. They were young people who, for whatever reasons, had not graduated high school. Realizing there are few jobs one can obtain without a high-school diploma or equivalent degree, they turned to FastTrain, hoping to learn marketable skills to improve their chances of making a decent living. FastTrain aggressively recruited these students, and then used fraud to make the Government think they were eligible for federal aid and loans. FastTrain bilked the Government out of millions of dollars, most of which ended up in Amor’s pockets. As for the student victims, many now carry debt that will be enormously difficult to pay off with what they can earn working the low-level jobs for which they are qualified. The effects of Amor’s fraudulent acts are thus abhorrent and far-reaching.”

The Court awarded damages in favor of the United States in excess of $12 million. In addition, the Court imposed over $10 million in civil penalties against the defendants.

“Alejandro Amor and his co-conspirators preyed on vulnerable men and women who sought educational assistance to improve their quality of life,” said U.S. Attorney Ferrer. “As a result, Fast Train defrauded the students out of a legitimate education and the U.S. government out of federal funds that were intended to help those in need of support. The multi-million dollar penalties and damages in this civil suit, in addition to the lengthy prison term imposed against Mr. Amor in the criminal proceedings should serve as a strong warning that fraud schemes do not pay. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners will continue to use both civil enforcement and criminal laws – to protect our taxpayer dollars and ensure that individuals who seek to enhance their lives through a quality education are able to do so without falling victim to devastating schemes.”

“Mr. Amor knowingly and willfully took advantage of innocent students and defrauded America’s taxpayers in a deliberate and methodical way. With his prison sentence and this judgment, he is being held accountable for his criminal actions,” said Special Agent in Charge Yessyka Santana of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Southeastern Regional Office. “I’m proud of the work of the Office of Inspector General and our law enforcement partners in this matter and continuing our work to protect Federal student aid from this type of calculated plunder.”

The United States pursued this civil case alongside criminal proceedings filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida against Amor and other defendants. In November 2015, after a 23-day trial in United States of America v. Alejandro Amor, Case No. 1:14-cr-20750-JAL(s)-1 (S.D. Fla.), a jury convicted Amor of one count of conspiracy to steal Government funds and 12 counts of theft of Government funds. On May 2, 2016, Amor was sentenced to 97 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Joan A. Lenard.

The civil case is captioned United States of America, Plaintiff vs. FastTrain II Corp. d/b/a FastTrain College, and Alejandro Amor, Defendants, Case No.: 1:12-cv-21431-COOKE/TORRES, United States District Court, Southern District of Florida. The criminal investigation was underway when a lawsuit was filed by a FastTrain admissions officer, under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act. The admissions officer was later convicted of offenses related to FastTrain’s misconduct and subsequently was dismissed from the civil suit.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James A. Weinkle litigated the civil case. U.S. Attorney Ferrer commended the contributions of U.S. Department of Education Office of General Counsel attorneys Russell Wolff and Christina Bixby and investigative efforts of Special Agent Jason Williams and former Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kristen Frias, and Special Agent Joel Veiguela of Nicole Eisenzopf of the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education and Special Agent Mary Wilson of the FBI.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

 

Four defendants including two sober home owners, the clinical director of a substance abuse treatment center, and a sales representative for multiple laboratories pled guilty last week for their participation in a health care fraud and money laundering scheme that involved the filing of fraudulent insurance claim forms and defrauded health care benefit programs.

 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Dave Aronberg, State Attorney, Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, Jeff Atwater, Florida Chief Financial Officer, William D. Snyder, Sheriff Martin County Sheriff's Office, Robert Koons, Special Agent in Charge, Amtrak Office of Inspector General, Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Isabel Colon, Regional Director, United States Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (DOL-EBSA), Dennis Russo, Director of Operations, National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), Ric Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO), Bryan Kummerlen, Chief, West Palm Beach Police Department, Jeffrey S. Goldman, Chief, Delray Beach Police Department, Pam Bondi, Florida Attorney General, and Scott Rezendes, Special Agent in Charge, Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General (OPM-OIG), made the announcement.

 

Michael Bonds, 45, of Delray Beach, Stefan Gatt, 27, of Deerfield Beach, and Fransesia Davis, a/k/a “Francine,”a/k/a “Francesa,” 44, of Lake Worth, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. Davis also pled guilty to one count of managing, leasing, profiting from, and making available a place (one of her sober homes) for the purpose of for the purpose of the unlawful distribution and use of controlled substances, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 856(a). Sentencing hearings are scheduled for April 24, 2017.

 

Trial is scheduled for March 20, 2017 for co-defendants Kenneth Chatman, a/k/a “Kenny,” 46, of Boynton Beach, Joaquin Mendez, 52, of Miramar, Laura Chatman, 44, of Boynton Beach, and Donald Willems, 40, of Weston. The co-defendants are are charged by criminal complaint, a formal charging document notifying the defendants of the charges. All persons charged by criminal complaint are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

 

In a separate but related case, Licensed Mental Health Counselor Dr. Barry Gregory (case no. 9:17-cr-80033-DMM), 62, of Wellington, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of knowingly falsifying a matter involving health care benefit programs, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1035(a)(1) and 2. Sentencing for Gregory is scheduled for April 26, 2017.

 

According to court documents, defendants Kenneth Chatman, Davis, and Bonds established sober homes, including Stay’n Alive, Inc., Redemption Sober House, Inc., Total Recovery Sober Living LLC, and other sober homes, which were purportedly in the business of providing safe and drug-free residences for individuals suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. To obtain residents for the sober homes, members of the conspiracy provided kickbacks and bribes, in the form of free or reduced rent and other benefits, to individuals with insurance who agreed to reside at the sober homes, attend drug treatment, and submit to regular drug testing that members of the conspiracy could bill to the residents’ insurance plans. Although the sober homes were purportedly drug-free residences, Chatman, Davis, and Bonds permitted the residents to continue using drugs as long as they attended treatment and submitted to drug testing.

 

Defendants Kenneth Chatman, Bonds, and Davis referred the sober homes’ residents who had insurance to treatment centers owned by Kenneth Chatman but titled in the name of Laura Chatman. These treatment centers purportedly offered clinical treatment services for persons suffering from alcohol and drug addiction. In most instances, defendant Kenneth Chatman knew that the sober home residents referred to the treatment centers, Journey to Recovery LLC, in Lake Worth, Florida, and Reflections Treatment Center, LLC, in Margate, Florida, were using drugs. Defendant Gregory was the Clinical Director of Reflections Treatment Center and Journey to Recovery, and was responsible for supervising clinical services, including regularly reviewing the work performed by subordinate employees. Gregory was aware that Kenneth Chatman was the true owner of some of these sober homes, but they were placed in other people’s names in an attempt to hide Chatman’s true ownership and control over the businesses. Gregory also knew that Chatman was paying kickbacks and bribes to sober home owners for referring their residents to Reflections and Journey for treatment, and that these kickbacks and bribes were disguised as “case management fees,” “consulting fees,” “marketing fees,” and “commissions.” Bonds, Davis, and Gregory further admitted that bribes and kickbacks were paid to insured patients who attended treatment, in the forms of free or reduced rent and other items. Bonds and Davis also admitted that residents of their sober homes were continuing to use controlled substances and that their sober homes were not, in fact, places where persons abstained from the use of drugs and alcohol. Rather, the defendants allowed their sober homes to be used by residents to continue abusing drugs and alcohol while attending ineffective and improperly licensed treatment centers in exchange for free rent.

 

Defendant Kenneth Chatman hired doctors, including defendants Mendez and Willems, to serve as medical directors of his treatment centers. The doctors ordered drug treatment and drug testing for the sober home residents, specifically expensive urine and saliva drug screens and allergy testing, regardless of whether such treatment and testing were medically necessary. The defendants provided services meant solely to maximize insurance reimbursements. In some instances, defendants Kenneth Chatman and Davis submitted urine and saliva samples from employees instead of urine and saliva from patients. In other instances, defendant Kenneth Chatman caused confirmatory testing to be performed and billed for residents who left the sober homes and were no longer receiving treatment at the treatment centers. Defendants Mendez and Willems also falsely documented patient files to make it appear as though they reviewed the test results. Defendant Gatt admitted that he knew the bodily fluid samples that he collected from Reflections came from employees and that he paid kickbacks to Chatman for Chatman to continue referring lucrative lab testing to him. Defendant Gregory admitted that the drug testing was “useless” because it was not used to direct the patients’ treatment and that as many as 90% of patients were testing positive for the continued use of controlled substances while purportedly obtaining treatment. Gregory knew that Kenneth Chatman was advising patients that they were allowed to continue using controlled substances. On some occasions when Gregory recommended referring relapsed patients to detox or other facilities, Chatman, who had no medical or clinical training, would overrule Gregory’s recommendations because discharging the patients would end Chatman’s ability to bill the patients’ insurance plans.

 

Defendants Kenneth Chatman and Davis engaged in various tactics to keep patients from being able to leave Reflections and Journey, including threatening violence, and confiscating their belongings, such as car keys, telephones, medications, and food stamps, in order to maintain the ability to continue fraudulently billing their insurance companies.

 

Defendant Kenneth Chatman also recruited and coerced female patients and residents into prostitution, telling them that they would not have to pay rent or participate in treatment or testing so long as they would allow him to continue to bill their insurance companies for substance abuse treatment and testing that the patients did not receive.

 

Defendants Kenneth and Laura Chatman submitted to the Florida Department of Children and Families fraudulent applications for licensure for Journey to Recovery and Reflections Treatment Center, stating that Laura Chatman was the sole owner of those entities and hiding the fact that Kenneth Chatman owned and operated the treatment centers. Gregory, who also owned a consulting firm that assisted substance abuse treatment facilities in obtaining licensure, filed documents with the Florida Department of Children and Families and assisted with audits to help Chatman receive permanent DCF licenses for Reflections and Journey.

 

Potential victims should call (561) 822-5114 or submit complaints through the IC3 Complaint Form - https://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx and use the key word “Chatman Reflections” in the “Description of the Incident” field when submitting complaints related to this case.

 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Greater Palm Beach Health Care Fraud Task Force. Agencies of the task force include the FBI, IRS-CI, the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office Sober Homes Task Force, Florida Division of Investigative and Forensic Services, Martin County Sheriff's Office, Amtrak OIG, DOL-OIG, DOL-EBSA, National Insurance Crime Bureau, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, West Palm Beach Police Department, Delray Beach Police Department, Florida Attorney General Office of Statewide Prosecution, and OPM-OIG. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney A. Marie Villafaña.

 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Todd Erling Becker, 46, of Stuart, Florida, was sentenced today to 794 months in prison, by U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham, after having been convicted at trial for committing and conspiring to commit fives robberies with a firearm at business located in Stuart, Vero Beach, and Orlando, Florida and Lexington, Kentucky.

 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Ken Mascara, Sheriff, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, William Snyder, Sheriff, Martin County Sheriff’s Office, Deryl Loar, Sheriff, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, Jerry Demings, Sheriff, Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and Mark Barnard, Police Chief, Lexington Police Department, Kentucky, made the announcement.

On November 21, 2016, a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida convicted Becker of one count of conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate and foreign commerce, three counts of robbery affecting interstate commerce, and three counts of using a firearm in the furtherance of a crime of violence.

According to the court record, including evidence presented at trial, between August 13, 2013 and August 21, 2014, Becker and various accomplices robbed four convenience stores catering to Latin communities in Stuart and Vero Beach, Florida and Lexington, Kentucky. Additionally, Becker and an accomplice robbed a cash exchange business in Orlando, Florida. On all five occasions, a disguised gunman entered the stores with a semi-automatic handgun and demanded money from the store clerks. For four of the five robberies, Becker served as the lookout and the driver of the vehicle used to flee from the crime scenes. During the robbery in Vero Beach, Florida Becker entered the store with the gunman and bound the store clerk before fleeing.

During the robbery in Lexington, Kentucky, during business hours, the gunman entered the Latin market and demanded money while pointing his semi-automatic handgun at multiple customers, including young children. The gunman fired two shots at employees. Shortly after the shots were fired, Becker drove to the location, picked up the gunman, and fled back to Florida.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, Martin County Sheriff’s Office, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and Lexington Police Department in Kentucky. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel E. Funk and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Butler.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

 

 

 

 

 

MIAMI – Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announced today that that he will step down from his post on March 3, 2017. Mr. Ferrer tendered his resignation to President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“There has been no greater honor than to serve and protect the same community that opened its arms to my parents when they immigrated to this country,” stated U.S. Attorney Ferrer. “For almost seven years, I have been blessed to work alongside the remarkable men and women in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, community leaders, and our federal, state and local law enforcement partners who strive tirelessly to combat crime and promote a safer, stronger and more united District. I am incredibly proud of all that we have been able to accomplish together, in and out of the courtroom, including building meaningful bonds of trust with the diverse community we serve.”

Ferrer was nominated by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2010 to serve as the chief federal law enforcement officer for the Southern District of Florida. In 2014, Ferrer was appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder to serve a two-year term on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC). In January 2016, Ferrer was reappointed to serve on the AGAC by Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Since his appointment as U.S. Attorney, Mr. Ferrer has led the nation’s third largest U.S. Attorney’s Office as a dedicated public servant.

During Mr. Ferrer’s tenure, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has indicted over 11,000 cases and charged more than 18,000 defendants for their participation in criminal activity impacting the Southern District of Florida and beyond. With some of the busiest litigators in the country, the Office consistently handles more trials than almost every other office. Since 2010, the Office has conducted almost 1,000 trials. In addition, the Office has seized, forfeited, and collected millions of dollars as part of its efforts to recover money and assets and seek restitution for crime victims. Between 2010-2016, the Office collected approximately $591 million in criminal and civil actions. During this same time period, the Office, working with partner agencies, has collected over $384 million in criminal and civil forfeitures. This is remarkable considering the Office’s annual budget is approximately $43 million.

Protecting Our Nation’s Security

From the outset of his appointment as the District’s U.S. Attorney, Mr. Ferrer’s top priority has been prosecuting and deterring acts of terrorism.

- Since his creation of the Office’s National Security Section in 2013, there has been a threefold increase in the number of active national security cases prosecuted by the Office.

- In support of the National Security mission, Mr. Ferrer created the Department’s First National Security Intelligence Unit at a District level to provide crucial, real time support to time sensitive national security, transnational organized crime and international narcotics matters.

In addition, National Security prosecutors:

- Convicted a man who conspired to raise funds and send them abroad in support of the Pakistani Taliban;

- Convicted a South Florida resident who attempted to use a weapon of mass destruction on a public beach and provide material support to a terrorist organization;

- Obtained lengthy prison sentences against two terror group operatives who conspired and attempted to raise funds and recruits for the al-Qaeda group in Somalia and an affiliate in Syria;

- Secured the maximum statutory sentences for two South Florida brothers who were working to stage a terrorist attack in New York;

- Disrupted a significant number of home grown violent extremists inspired by terror groups to try to carry out terror attacks; and

- Charged the individual alleged to have killed five people and wounded others at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport with federal offenses that authorize penalties up to and including the death penalty.

Combatting Fraud

Throughout Mr. Ferrer’s tenure, he focused on the broad range of evolving financial crimes that plague the district, including health care fraud, identity theft, complex investment and securities frauds, Ponzi schemes, boiler room operations, bank fraud, corporate fraud, broad-scale mortgage fraud, computer fraud, tax fraud, unemployment insurance fraud, and bankruptcy fraud.

Health Care Fraud – Since 2010, the Office has been a nationwide leader in health care fraud prosecutions, charging 658 health care fraud cases and 1,230 defendants. In 2016, the Office was part of a multi-district team that charged the largest single criminal health care fraud case ever brought against individuals by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Identity Theft Schemes - In 2012, Mr. Ferrer created the South Florida Identity Theft Strike Force to aggressively attack rampant identity tax refund fraud in the district. This collective law enforcement initiative evolved into a permanent Stolen Fraud (SIF) Strike Force to combat the multi-faceted criminal enterprises that use stolen personal identifying information to commit other crimes. Since the inception of the Strike Force, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged more than 600 defendants responsible for over $400 million in intended losses.

Diverse Financial Fraud Schemes – The Office has also been a leader in financial fraud prosecutions. The Office’s prosecutions and recoveries included:

- Full restitution to the defrauded investors of a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme led by defendant and former high profile civil attorney Scott Rothstein;

- A 40-year prison sentence and over $300 million forfeiture judgment against the orchestrator of a $300 million-dollar fraud scheme involving the sales of vacation rental units;

- The conviction of the owner of a for profit college that orchestrated a scheme to defraud federal loan programs of $25 million;

- A sentence of more than 5 years in prison for the former mayor of North Miami following her conviction at trial for orchestrating an $8 million mortgage fraud scheme; and

- The first extradition of a Jamaican national for his role in a lottery scam targeting senior citizens in the U.S.

In addition, the Southern District is the only Office with an Environmental Crimes Unit outside of Main Justice that investigates and prosecutes criminal violations of environmental and wildlife protection laws. During Mr. Ferrer’s tenure, the Unit has:

- Obtained the largest-ever criminal penalty against a company for deliberate pollution by a seagoing vessel;

- Prosecuted corporations and individuals that violated hazardous material guidelines and illegally applied pesticides resulting in injuries to a child; and

- Convicted individuals who filed approximately $1.5 million in fraudulent reimbursement claims related to the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

Fighting Public Corruption and Civil Rights Violations

Mr. Ferrer’s commitment to holding those accountable who fail to uphold their duties and betray the public trust and deprive our citizens of the equal protections they deserve is unwavering. A few noteworthy examples of the Office’s support of this commitment include:

- Criminal convictions related to the Opa-Locka corruption investigation;

- Over 160 individuals were convicted in corruption cases, including 33 federal officials, 22 state officials, 66 local officials, and 39 private citizens;

- The conviction of local officials included more than 30 police officers on corruption and/or civil rights charges;

- The criminal conviction of the former Mayor of the City of Sweetwater for using his elected position to facilitate a fraud scheme;

- Settlements and consent decrees with the Davie Fire Department and Palm Beach County School Board to resolve allegations of employment discrimination due to pregnancy; and

- In 2016, the Office, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, negotiated a comprehensive settlement agreement with the City of Miami and the Miami Police Department (MPD) following findings of excessive use of force through officer involved shootings. Under the terms of the settlement, MPD committed to comprehensive reforms to ensure constitutional policing and support public trust.

Thwarting Narcotics Trafficking

Mr. Ferrer increased the Office’s commitment to the prosecution of international drug traffickers and money launderers. In support of this mission, the Office:

- Created the first-in-the-nation BACRIM prosecution unit to combat the leaders and associates of Colombia’s largest and most influential criminal drug trafficking group. Since the unit’s inception, the Office has filed charges against hundreds of defendants associated with the BACRIMs. In addition, Mr. Ferrer became the first U.S. Attorney in history to travel to Colombia, where he met on two occasions with the nation’s president to support and encourage our collective enforcement efforts;

- Created the nation’s first Caribbean Basin initiative to tackle maritime narco-trafficking into the U.S., from that region. The Office has charged hundreds of defendants under this initiative. Between June and November of 2016, the Office, working with its federal law enforcement partners, brought criminal prosecutions based on the interception of over 20 metric tons of cocaine on the high seas;

- Obtained a 150-year prison sentence and $14 million forfeiture judgment against the head of an international narcotics trafficking and money laundering syndicate out of Madrid, Spain; and

- Continues to participate in the extradition and prosecution of alleged international drug traffickers and money launders, including the first extradition from Honduras, Joaquin Guzman Loera (“El Chapo”) from Mexico, and Guy Philippe from Haiti.

The Office also waged a battle against the scourges of pill mills, synthetic drugs, heroin, opiates, and performance enhancing drugs. As a result, the Office:

- Obtained the district’s first federal conviction for unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, Fentanyl, which resulted in death;

- Exposed the illegal pipeline of black market suppliers of performance enhancing drugs to professional athletes during the Biogenesis investigation;

- Thwarted the oxycodone crisis with the crack-down on “pill mills;” and

- Convened a Town Hall, with more than 100 concerned community attendees, to confront the heroin crisis.

Protecting Vulnerable Victims - Human Tracking and Child Exploitation

During Mr. Ferrer’s tenure, the Office continued its dedication to the protection of the most vulnerable members of society. As part of that commitment, the Office:

- Prosecuted over 84 offenders in 50 human trafficking cases;

- Obtained life sentences for two defendants convicted in the district’s first sex trafficking by fraud prosecution and successfully prosecuted the first sex trafficking case in the country based on extraterritorial jurisdiction; and

- Convicted traffickers and abusers who used deception to lure unsuspecting foreign university students into prostitution, preyed on minors in shelters and orphanages, used “sextortion” to induce teenage boys to send sexually explicit photographs and videos, and employed forced labor practices against farm workers.

A Commitment to Violence Reduction

Concerned with the rising tide of violence in our communities, particularly youth gun violence, in 2011, Mr. Ferrer created the Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP), a community-based, holistic, approach to violence reduction that focuses on enforcement, prevention, and the successful reentry of returning citizens into South Florida neighborhoods. The blueprint for the VRP consists of the simultaneous, vigorous pursuit of three prongs:

First Prong-Enforcement: Prosecutors are assigned to specific “hot spot” communities plagued by violence. Between 2011 and 2016, AUSAs filed more than 1,500 cases, involving firearms and violent crime, against more than 1,400 defendants. In addition, the Office:

- Convicted eight defendants charged for their participation in a large-scale armed drug trafficking operation that resulted in the seizure of body armor and assault rifles;

- Convicted the killers of a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier; and

- Prosecuted countless members and associates of the Latin Kings and other neighborhood violent-crime squads.

Second Prong – Prevention: U.S. Attorney Ferrer implemented an array of VRP initiatives that strive to prevent crime in violence plagued communities through mentorship, exposure to positive role models and early literacy development.

- Through the Pre-K Reading Program, Office staff partner with City Year Miami, local attorneys, law enforcement officers/agents, judges, and community volunteers to read to more than 1,200 students a month, in 23 district schools. Each child is given a free book at the end of the program. For many, this is the first book they have ever owned. In total, more than 11,000 books have been distributed to area students.

- Since 2013, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has also invited more than 2,500 students from 45 local schools to meet with prosecutors, inmates and courthouse staff to learn about the importance of making smarter choices in their lives.

Third Prong – Successful Reentry: The Office is committed to reducing recidivism by helping formerly incarcerated individuals successfully reintegrate and contribute to their communities. Reentry initiatives include:

- The Southern District of Florida’s first ever federal Reentry Court, the Court-Assisted Re-Entry (CARE) Initiative, a product of extensive collaboration between the U.S. Attorney’s Office, our U.S. District Court, U.S. Probation, the Federal Public Defender’s Office and others; and

- Reentry and Resource (“in-reach”) Meetings at the local and federal penal institutions that are led by Office representatives and have connected more than 2,000 inmates with much needed social services.

Community Outreach and Policing

Mr. Ferrer has also been an invaluable partner in the district’s efforts to improve relationships between law enforcement and the people they serve. As part of that effort:

- In 2016, during her Community Policing Tour, Attorney General Lynch attended a youth town hall in Miami-Dade and met with officers and students selected for the Peace Ambassadors’ Leadership Program, a pilot program supported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that encourages students in high-crime communities to be "change agents" - to speak out against violence to their family and peers;

- Since 2015, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has partnered with the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) to support monthly community resource fairs and food distribution events that have provided over 156 tons of free food and reached over 10,500 area residents; and

- Mr. Ferrer has also met directly with leaders and concerned members of the district’s diverse civic, faith-based, academic and law enforcement communities at mosques, temples, churches, schools, police departments and community centers to open channels of communication.

Civil Division

Under Mr. Ferrer’s leadership, Civil Division AUSAs worked on massive civil fraud investigations involving egregious false claims and novel issues. Civil Division attorneys reached countless multi-million dollar settlements, including:

- A record settlement of more than $250 million with more than 500 hospitals to resolve False Claims Act allegations related to the implantation of cardiac devices;

- The largest settlement ever against skilled nursing facilities nationally, $17 million, to resolve kickback allegations; and

- Walgreens agreed to pay a record settlement of $80 million for civil penalties under the Controlled Substances Act.

Appellate Division

The Office has one of the premier Appellate Divisions in the Department of Justice. During Mr. Ferrer’s tenure, the Appellate Division has won significant cases (in published and unpublished decisions), including several that decided issues of first impression. The Division has:

- Successfully argued before the Eleventh Circuit that the statute giving extraterritorial effect to the crime of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion was a constitutional exercise of Congress's authority under the Foreign Commerce Clause; and

- Obtained en banc review of, and the overturning of an adverse panel decision that rendered unconstitutional subsection (d) of the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d), which permits a federal of state governmental entity to obtain historical cell site information from a telephone service provider without a warrant, in certain circumstances. After full en banc briefing and argument, Appellate Division AUSAs convinced the Eleventh Circuit that the Act did not violate the Fourth Amendment.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Justin Green, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI), Miami Field Office, Mark Selby, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, and Juan J. Perez, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), announced the arrest today of Maribel Jimenez and Magaly Del Rosario, both Miami-Dade residents, on charges contained in a twenty-count federal indictment.

According to allegations contained in the indictment:

Jimenez and Del Rosario are charged with conspiring, from 2008 through August 2015, to receive and deliver an adulterated and misbranded medical device in connection with their unlawful receipt and use of silicone smuggled into the U.S. from Colombia and eventually injected into hundreds of clients seeking augmentation of their buttocks, as well as their administration of injections of misbranded prescription drugs, including lidocaine and Botox, at Bella Beauty Spa (“Bella Beauty”), a business owned by Jimenez, located at 8360 West Flagler Street, Miami, Florida (Count 1). The defendants are also charged with conspiring to commit wire and mail fraud arising from their fraudulent misrepresentations to these same clients regarding the true nature of the substance which would be utilized in the clients’ buttocks injections and concealing the fact that the injected substance was, in fact, health-threatening silicone (Count 2). In addition, the defendants are charged with delivery for pay of a misbranded and adulterated medical device with intent to defraud and mislead (Counts 3-9). Jimenez is also charged with smuggling offenses (Counts 10-14) and false statement offenses (Counts 15-20).

Jimenez, with assistance from Del Rosario, a manager of Bella Beauty, administered deep tissue buttock injections of substantial quantities of silicone, an adulterated medical device when used and intended to be used in this manner, to hundreds of Bella Beauty clients.

The silicone which was unlawfully injected into Bella Beauty clients was clandestinely smuggled into the United States by Jimenez and co-conspirators by means of approximately 170 separate DHL air carrier shipments. To avoid the scrutiny of Customs and Border Protection, upon importation into the United States, each bottle contained false labelling stating in Spanish that the contents consisted of “Depilatory Wax” and alleged instructions on how to apply this purported rosin-based substance in a manner consistent with hair removal.

After the injections, Jimenez had been informed by a number of Bella Beauty Spa clients that they were experiencing adverse health related symptoms. Jimenez and Del Rosario failed to advise the clients that silicone had been injected into their bodies. The defendants also intentionally concealed the potential health consequences arising from the injection of silicone into their clients’ bodies.

Attorney Ferrer stated, “Criminal conduct that poses a significant health risk to the general public is of grave concern to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Federal prosecutors and our law enforcement allies are committed to disrupting illicit operations that hold themselves out to be legitimate medical facilities while endangering lives for profit. To best protect yourself, individuals who are considering body augmentation should do their due diligence to ensure that the procedures are performed by reputable persons and do not contain hazardous materials.”

“Serious harm, including death, can occur when individuals have liquid silicone or other substances injected into their buttocks to increase their size. The FDA has not approved liquid silicone or other injectable substances to increase the size of the buttocks,” said Justin D. Green, Special Agent in Charge, FDA-OCI Miami. “Our office will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who offer this hazardous procedure to the public.”

“The suspects in this investigation put their own financial enrichment well above the health and safety of the hundreds of people who trusted them,” said Mark Selby, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Miami. "At HSI we will continue to work with our federal, international and local law enforcement partners to put an end to this dangerous practice."

Defendants Jimenez and Del Rosario appeared in court today for their initial hearings. Jimenez is scheduled for a pre-trial detention hearing on Friday, February 17, 2017.

Individual clients of Bella Beauty Spa who have undergone buttocks injection procedures, regardless of how far in the past, are urged to contact [email protected] in order to receive additional information, address individual concerns, and to receive information concerning their status and rights as potential victims.

An indictment is a formal charging documents notifying the defendant of the charges. All persons charged by indictment are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of each of FDA, MDPD and ICE-HSI. Mr. Ferrer thanked Christopher D. Maston, Port Director for Miami International Airport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Luis Sierra, Country Attaché HSI Andean Region, HSI International Operations, and the Colombian National Police for their assistance with the investigation. This case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter Outerbridge and Brooke Watson.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Julius Lorenzo George Jackson, 32, of Palm Beach County, was sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment by U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch for his role in a Jamaica-based fraudulent lottery scheme. Jackson previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Antonio J. Gomez, Postal Inspector in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, and Mark Selby, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), made the announcement.

According to court documents, including the criminal information and factual proffer, individuals throughout the United States were contacted and falsely informed that they had won millions of dollars in a lottery. The victims were persuaded to pay bogus fees of several hundred to several thousand dollars in order to collect their purported lottery winnings. During the course of the lottery scheme, Jackson would receive money from the victims, either directly into his bank account or through a wire transfer of funds. Jackson would keep a portion of the victims’ money and would wire transfer the remaining portion to a co-conspirator in Jamaica.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of USPIS and ICE-HSI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bertha R. Mitrani

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Following a three-day jury trial, a Miami-Dade resident pled guilty in federal court to being a felon in possession of a firearm after shooting a man in front of a convenience store in Miami Gardens.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade State Attorney, Peter Forcelli, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, and Cynthia Dawson Machanic, Acting Chief, Miami Gardens Police Department, made the announcement.

James Benjamin Bell, 52, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Bell faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years in prison if determined to be an armed career criminal. Sentencing is scheduled for April 20, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham.

According to the court record, including evidence presented during the trial, on May 31, 2016, Bell argued with another man outside of a Miami Gardens convenience store before shooting him in the face. A bystander called 911 and provided a description of the shooter and the getaway car. Police officers quickly found the car and Bell exited the passenger side of the vehicle wearing clothing that matched the description of the shooter. Bell’s girlfriend was the driver. Officers located a firearm in Bell’s girlfriend’s purse. A ballistics test linked the firearm found in Bell’s girlfriend’s purse to the casing left on scene. At the time of the shooting, Bell was a convicted felon who was prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Mr. Ferrer thanked the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office for their assistance. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ATF and the Miami Gardens Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Marianne Curtis from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney Breezye Telfair.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney?s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

     Dr. Paul B. Tartell, an ENT physician practicing in Plantation, Florida and his practice Paul B. Tartell, M.D., P.L., have agreed to pay $750,000 to resolve allegations that he violated the False Claims Act by billing for surgical endoscopies with debridement and laryngeal stroboscopies that were not provided or not medically necessary.

     Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Shimon R. Richmond, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Scott Rezendes, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General (OPM-OIG), made the announcement today.

     “We remain deeply committed to holding individual health care providers accountable for exploiting federal health care programs,” said Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. “Physicians who bill for unnecessary services and services that were never provided put their own desire for personal profit ahead of their oath to provide safe and essential patient care. Doctors engaged in this conduct violate their patients’ trust and deprive federal health care programs of resources intended to provide care for the elderly, sick, and impoverished.”

The settlement announced today resolves allegations originally brought by Theodore Duay, a former patient of Dr. Tartell. Mr. Duay filed a complaint under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private parties to sue on behalf of the government and receive a share of any recovery. The False Claims Act authorizes the United States to intervene in such lawsuits and take over primary responsibility for litigation. Mr. Duay will receive $135,000.

Mr. Duay alleged that Dr. Tartell routinely performs diagnostic endoscopies on patients but bills these diagnostic procedures as more expensive and intrusive surgical debridements. Surgical debridements are a specialized procedure frequently performed following sinus surgery involving the transnasal insertion of an endoscope and parallel insertion of various instruments to remove postsurgical crusting, bone or tissue deposits. It may also be used to remove crusts and debris in patients with longstanding chronic sinusitis who have undergone surgery in the past.

In addition to the allegations regarding surgical debridements, the settlement also resolves the United States’ allegations that Dr. Tartell systematically billed federal health benefit programs, in particular, Medicare and the Federal Employment Health Benefits Program, for claims arising from laryngeal video stroboscopies that were not performed or were not medically necessary.

“When physicians and their practices bill for services not provided or not medically necessary it undermines the public’s trust in medical institutions and the financial integrity of federal health care programs,” said Shimon R. Richmond, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “Our agents and lawyers will aggressively pursue those who exploit taxpayers, patients, and government health programs.”

“This case demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to use all legal means available, including the False Claims Act, to pursue individuals who compromise the federal health care system for their own profit,” said George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to investigating fraud schemes that divert taxpayer dollars away from those in need of care.”

“Today’s settlement is a reminder that fraud against the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program will not be tolerated,” said OPM Special Agent in Charge Rezendes. “I would like to thank the OPM OIG criminal investigators and our law enforcement partners for their fine work in protecting not only the health and wellbeing of FEHBP enrollees, but also the financial integrity of the program.”

The investigation of Dr. Tartell reflects a coordinated effort among the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Office of Personnel Management Office of the Inspector General along with the Florida Blue Special Investigative Unit. The investigation and settlement were handled by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica E. Elliott.

The case is captioned United States ex rel. Duay v. Paul B. Tartell, M.D. et al., No. 14-23954-Civ-Altonaga (S.D. Fla.). The claims settled by the lawsuit are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Seventeen individuals have been charged in a 17-count indictment with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and various substantive bank fraud offenses, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1349 and 1344.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Timothy Mowery, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Housing Finance Agent, Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG), Southeast Region, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Division, and Juan J. Perez, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), made the announcement.

The following defendants are charged in the indictment:

- Miguel Soto, Jr., 46, of Miami, Florida;

- Hector Raul Santana, 38, of Miami Lakes, Florida;

- Miguel Faraldo, 52, of Miami, Florida;

- Barbara E. Zas, 46, of Miami, Florida;

- Maria Rosa Diaz, 45, of Miami Springs, Florida;

- Heberto Elias Gamboa, 31, of Miami, Florida;

- Michael Jose Gonzalez, 31, of Miami, Florida;

- Jenny Nillo, 50, of Miami, Florida;

- Jaime Jesus Sola Avila, 59, of Miami, Florida;

- Jorge Angel Sola, 31, of Miami, Florida;

- Emily Marie Echavarria, 50, of Miami, Florida;

- Eduardo Cruz Toledo, 50, of Miami, Florida;

- Yanet Huet, 44, of Miami, Florida;

- Carlos Mesa, Jr., 36, of St. Petersburg, Florida;

- Yipsy Rabelo Clavelo, 45, of Pompano Beach, Florida;

- Jose Salazar, 49, of Miami, Florida; and

- Cynthia Velasquez, 39, of Miami, Florida.

According to allegations contained in the indictment:

During 2007 and 2008, the defendants conspired to perpetrate a complex mortgage fraud scheme against various FDIC-insured lenders.

The defendants conspired to fraudulently obtain mortgage loans for unqualified buyers of units in two condominium projects on the west coast of Florida: Portofino at Largo, also known as Indian Palms, in Largo, Florida; and Bayshore Landing, in Tampa, Florida.

Miguel Soto, Jr. was the acting manager of two Florida companies that sold the condominium units to the unqualified buyers: Indian Palms Holdings, LLC, and 5221 Bayshore, LLC. Hector Raul Santana served as the Director of Sales for Indian Palms Holdings, LLC.

Maria Rosa Diaz was the president of Crisvan Investment Group, Inc., a Miami-based mortgage broker business that prepared and submitted the unqualified buyers’ fraudulent loan applications and supporting documents to the lenders.

Miguel Faraldo, Jenny Nillo, Jorge Angel Sola, and Heberto Elias Gamboa operated “marketing companies” that were used to launder the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds and perpetuate the fraud scheme. In particular, Faraldo operated All Florida Marketing, Inc., Nillo and Jorge Sola operated One Stop Consulting Solutions, Inc., and Gamboa operated HHWC Management Group, Inc.

Soto, Santana, Faraldo, Zas, Diaz, Nillo, Jaime Sola, Emily Echavarria, Eduardo Cruz Toledo, and other co-conspirators recruited unqualified buyers to purchase units in Portofino at Largo and Bayshore Landing. These unqualified buyers included Michael Gonzalez, Yanet Huet, Carlos Mesa, Jr., Yipsy Rabelo Clavelo, Jose Salazar, Jorge Sola, and Cynthia Velasquez.

Soto, Santana, Faraldo, Zas, Diaz, Nillo, Jaime Sola, Echavarria, Cruz, and other co-conspirators, made fraudulent statements to unqualified buyers to induce their purchases.

The defendants submitted fraudulent loan applications to induce the lenders to make mortgage loans to the unqualified buyers. The submitted loan applications contained false and fraudulent statements relating to: the borrower’s occupation of, or intent to occupy, the mortgaged property as a residence; the borrower’s employment, income, and assets; the borrower’s liabilities; the borrower’s payment of an earnest money deposit and cash-to-close; the sellers’ payment of kick-backs to the borrowers; and other information that was material to the borrower’s qualifications to borrow money from the lenders and the values of the mortgage properties.

Miguel Soto, Jr., Hector Santana, Maria Diaz and their co-conspirators agreed to submit the unqualified buyers’ fraudulent mortgage loan applications to the lenders through certain mortgage broker firms, including Diaz’s company, Crisvan Investment Group, Inc.

Miguel Soto, Jr. and Hector Santana agreed with one another, and with other co-conspirators, that the settlement agents for the purchase transactions would disburse mortgage loan proceeds for the purchase of condominium units in Portofino at Largo and Bayside Landing, even though the borrowers would not pay the earnest the money deposits and/or cash-to-close required by their loan applications and HUD-1 Settlement Statements.

Miguel Soto, Jr. and Hector Santana agreed with Miguel Faraldo, Jenny Nillo, Jorge Sola, and Heberto Gamboa, and with other co-conspirators, that the settlement agents would use some of the proceeds from certain of the fraudulently obtained mortgage loans to pay a fictitious “marketing fee” to one of the “marketing companies.” Faraldo, Nillo, Sola, and Gamboa would then cause their companies to pay some of those funds to the unqualified buyers as an undisclosed kick-back for buying their units.

If convicted, the defendants face a statutory maximum term of 30 years’ imprisonment, a $1 million fine, and mandatory restitution, on each count in the indictment.

Mr. Ferrer commends the investigative efforts of the FHFA-OIG, FBI and MDPD. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dwayne E. Williams.

An indictment is a formal charging documents notifying the defendant of the charges. All persons charged by indictment are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

A Palm Beach resident was sentenced to 74 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release for his participation in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.

Raphael Oswald, a/k/a Mackenson R. Olibrice, 37, of Rivera Beach, previously pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, one count of theft of public money, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.

According to court documents, in August 2013, law enforcement began investigating Oswald for identity theft charges related to his use of the stolen identity of a woman to purchase and finance a 2006 Porsche and BMW X-5 in New York. Specifically, the defendant walked into two separate car dealerships and presented a fraudulent passport and fraudulent Florida driver’s license in the name of the woman but bearing Oswald’s photo.

During the course of the initial identity theft investigation, a separate tax refund fraud scheme involving Oswald was discovered. Oswald possessed and used stolen personal identifying information of numerous individuals, and used the information to file fraudulent tax returns and collect tax refunds in the name of those individuals. More than one hundred fraudulent federal tax returns were filed, and the fraudulent refunds totaling $139,308 were directed into bank accounts in the name of Oswald’s company. Oswald then made a series of cash withdrawals and made several purchases for personal items from the bank accounts.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI. This case was being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia R. Wood.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Gary L. Marder, D.O., a physician residing in Palm Beach County and the owner and operator of the Allergy, Dermatology & Skin Cancer Centers in Port St. Lucie and Okeechobee, and the United States of America have stipulated to a consent final judgment of over $18 million to settle False Claims Act allegations against Dr. Marder. Co-defendant, Robert I. Kendall, M.D., a physician practicing in Coral Gables, has also agreed to pay the United States $250,000 to settle allegations that he violated the False Claims Act.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Shimon R. Richmond, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Miami Region, and John F. Khin, Special Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southeast Field Office, made the announcement.

The allegations arose from a qui tam lawsuit filed by whistleblower, Theodore A. Schiff, M.D., alleging that Dr. Marder knowingly submitted claims to federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary biopsies and radiation therapy services, radiation therapy services performed in contravention of standard practice regarding the amount of time between radiation treatments, and radiation therapy services performed without direct supervision and by unlicensed and/or unqualified physician assistants. The lawsuit further alleged that Dr. Kendall submitted false claims to federal and state healthcare programs for laboratory services tainted by kickbacks to, and improper financial relationships with, Dr. Marder. The United States intervened in the Civil Action on October 14, 2014, and filed its Complaint in Intervention on November 19, 2014.

In September 2016, the Court granted summary judgment in favor of the United States with respect to several key issues in the case, finding that Dr. Marder knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare by requesting reimbursement for services that he never actually performed or directly supervised due to his frequent absence from his medical clinics (including expansive periods of foreign travel) on days corresponding to over fifty percent of the payments that Dr. Marder received from Medicare. The Court further found that all Dr. Marder’s claims for medical physicist services submitted to Medicare since 2011 were false, and that Dr. Marder had actual knowledge that a physicist did not perform the corresponding services. The Court made no determination of liability against Dr. Kendall in this matter.

“Today’s settlement demonstrates this Office’s ongoing commitment to hold accountable healthcare providers who receive reimbursements from government-sponsored healthcare programs for services that are never actually performed. This conduct results in significantly increased costs to the federal government and others,” said Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

“Doctors who are more concerned with boosting their profits at the expense of taxpayer-funded health care programs than they are with patient safety will be held accountable,” said Shimon R. Richmond, HHS-OIG Miami Special Agent in Charge. “Working with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to protect the integrity of federal health care programs and the patients served by those programs.”

"This settlement highlights the commitment of DCIS and its law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of TRICARE, the Department of Defense health care program serving our warfighters, their family members, and military retirees," said Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin of DCIS Southeast Field Office. "Health care providers who seek financial gain through false claims and irresponsible treatment of their patients, will be diligently investigated and held accountable for their actions."

The settlement was the result of a coordinated effort by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, HHS-OIG, DCIS, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General (OPM-OIG) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The case was investigated and the settlement negotiated by Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Mark Lavine and John Spaccarotella.

The case is captioned United States of America and the State of Florida ex rel. Theodore A. Schiff, M.D. v. Gary L. Marder, D.O., Allergy, Dermatology & Skin Cancer Center, Inc., Megan Bock, P.A., Martin Burke, P.A., Robert I. Kendall, M.D., and Kendall Medical Laboratory, Inc., Case No. 1:13-cv-24503-KMM (S.D. Fla.). The claims asserted against Dr. Marder and Dr. Kendall are merely allegations.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

The Justice Department announced today that a federal jury convicted former Miami-Dade Police Detective William Kostopoulos, 49, with using his law enforcement authority to violate the civil rights of two motorists as well as obstructing justice.
    
Acting Assistant Attorney General Thomas Wheeler of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

According to evidence presented during the two week trial, in 2013, Kostopoulos stopped two separate motorists in order to steal their money, in violation of the motorists’ rights under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to be free from unreasonable seizures of their property.  Kostopoulos subsequently obstructed justice by making misleading statements in order to prevent the communication of information about his crimes to federal law enforcement officers.

“The defendant abused the power granted to him as a law enforcement officer to prey upon unsuspecting motorists for personal gain and then lied about his criminal actions to investigating detectives,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Thomas Wheeler of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  “He violated not only the law, but also the public trust.” 

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Department of Justice and the FBI stand committed to holding those who betray the public trust accountable for their criminal actions, while supporting the overwhelming majority of men and women who proudly uphold their duties to serve and protect the community as law-abiding police officers,” said U.S. Attorney Ferrer.

“This officer's abuse of authority will not be tolerated,” said Special Agent in Charge Piro.  “His actions do not represent all other law enforcement officers who are diligent, hard working professionals.” 
Kostopoulos faces a statutory maximum sentence of 22 years in prison on these charges.  Sentencing is scheduled for April 19 before U.S. District Court Judge Marcia G. Cooke in Miami, Florida.
   
This case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Homestead Police Department and the Miami-Dade Police Department.  The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward N. Stamm and Tonya R. Long of the Southern District of Florida and Samantha Trepel of the Civil Rights Division.