Another Sentencing from Massive Medicare Fraud in South Florida
The owner of a Miami-area patient transportation company has been sentenced to over 4 years in prison for her role in a massive Medicare fraud operation.
In November, Isabel Roque pleaded guilty for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud after participating in more than $3.8 million in fraudulent billing to the Medicare program.
Her transportation company, Isa & Yami Inc., was funneling Medicare beneficiaries through American Therapeutic Corporation partial hospitalization program services in exchange for kickbacks.
The services are designed for patients with severe mental illness, and the Medicare beneficiaries directed to the ATC by Roque did not need such treatment. The ATC billed the Medicare program for services provided to the patients Roque referred, and Roque paid kickbacks to some of the patients for agreeing to seek the ATC services.
ATC’s actions were not limited to Roque’s referals – in total Medicare was fraudulently billed more than $200 million by ATC for ineligible beneficiaries attending illegitimate treatment programs. ATC and its management company, Medlink Professional Management Group Inc., along with nine individual defendants have pleaded guilty or been convicted for their roles in the scheme.