A federal jury in Miami convicted a Florida man and woman for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud Medicare by billing over $93 million for home health therapy services that were never rendered. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Karel Felipe, 42, of Miami Shores, and Tamara Quicutis, 54, of Hialeah, conspired with others to submit false bills to Medicare for three home health companies located in Michigan. Their co-conspirators recruited individuals from Cuba to sign Medicare enrollment documents and appear as the owners of the home health agencies to conceal the identities of Felipe, Quicutis, and others involved in the scheme. Felipe, Quicutis, and their co-conspirators used these home health companies to submit claims for services that were not rendered using lists of stolen patient identities. Felipe, Quicutis, and their co-conspirators used hundreds of shell companies and bank accounts to launder the Medicare fraud proceeds and convert the proceeds into cash at Miami-area ATMs and check cashing stores.
After the trial commenced, a third defendant, Jesus Trujillo, 52, of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering. Trujillo oversaw a group of people that recruited nominee owners for home health agencies and shell companies and converted Medicare fraud proceeds into cash.
