A miami criminal lawyer can successfully run a practice solely defending fraud cases

July 11, 2009

A Miami criminal lawyer can successfully operate a criminal law practice solely based on the magnitude of economic fraud cases that are investigated and prosecuted in the South Florida area. Insurance fraud, staged accident, credit card and real estate/mortgage fraud cases fill the court's dockets in the state and federal courts in the Miami and South Florida area.

A prime example recently occurred in Miami, Florida when six individuals were arrested for Medicare fraud. Federal law enforcement authorities continue to search for two additional fugitives indicted in the same case. The defendants are alleged to have defrauded the U.S. health care system by creating multiple phony clinics that billed out in excess of $100 million dollars. The clinics billed for providing intravenous treatments for cancer, AIDS, varicose veins and other medical treatments. The clinics are alleged to have operated in five states including Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North and South Carolina. Some of the clinics involved were merely empty storefronts with handwritten signs. Other clinics operated and existed merely as post office boxes.

The main defendant charged with the fraud is Michel DeJesus Huarte who operated six of the so-called clinics in the Miami area and recruited others to submit the fraudulent claims. The federal indictment alleges that the defendants purchased lists of patient names and filed claims on their behalf and used doctor's identifying numbers. The fraud was perpetrated without the consent and knowledge of the patients and doctors. The payments were laundered through a local check cashing store. None of the clinics provided medical services, but nonetheless submitted medical bills to the United States healthcare system. The defendants were indicted on charges varying from Medicare fraud, money laundering and identity theft.

If convicted the defendants face up to 10 years in prison for the conspiracy to commit Medicare fraud, and up to two years for the identity theft. The government is also seeking to forfeit all of the illegal proceeds obtained from the scheme to defraud. Federal prosecutors stated that Medicare fraud is common in Miami and the South Florida area, but that the case stood out due to the enormous magnitude of the fraud.

Medicare is a federal health insurance plan for the elderly. Due to the number of elderly residing in the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale areas, Medicare fraud has been become fertile ground for criminal predators.

Eight Charged in Multi-Million Dollar Medicare Fraud Scheme, American Chronicle, July 10 2009