Nathan LaParl, 34, of Boca Raton, Fla., and Talia Alexandre, 30, of Palm Springs, Fla., were each charged by Information in connection with a multi-million dollar Medicare fraud scheme, bringing the total number of defendants to six. LaParl and Stefanie Hirsch, 51, of Los Angeles, Calif., were also charged by Information with violating the HIPAA statute. According to charging documents, LaParl and Alexandre sold Medicare patients’ personal and medical data to Juan Camilo Perez Buitrago. LaParl and Alexandre worked with foreign call centers to contact Medicare patients to ask if they were interested in durable medical equipment (DME) such as arm, back, knee and shoulder braces “at little to no cost.” The call centers collected demographic and insurance information from Medicare patients, which LaParl and Alexandre sold to Perez. Together, LaParl and Alexandre received more than $1.6 million from Perez for the patient data. Perez Buitrago used that patient data to submit more than $109 million in false and fraudulent claims, submitting claims for DME that was not prescribed, not necessary, and, in many instances, never requested or received.
