Man convicted in miami medicare fraud case murdered after serving prison time
September 01, 2009
A Miami man was shot to death inside his Miami-Lakes apartment soon after his release from federal prison. After Alberto Valdes was released from prison for his involvement in a Miami
Medicare fraud ring, he began receiving death threats. The police found his body in his Miami-Lakes apartment after a neighbor discovered blood seeping under the door. Miami homicide detectives are investigating whether the death threats stem from his former involvement in the Miami Medicare Fraud underworld. The
Miami criminal lawyer who represented Valdes was unavailable for comment.
Miami-Dade homicide detectives have ruled the killing a homicide, but are still looking into all possible leads to locate suspects and determine the motive for this violent crime. Back on June 18, 2009, Valdes requested that his probation be terminated early so he could leave Florida. He requested the early termination of probation because his house was the subject of two
burglary attempts and he had received numerous death threats.
At the end of June, 2009, a federal probation officer recommended to a U.S. District Judge in federal court that his probation be terminated. In general, probation officers will recommend early termination if an individual has not had any prior
probation violations. On July 8, 2009, the judge agreed to terminate the probation. Valdes served 5 months in federal prison and was supposed to serve a probationary period ending February 2010.
Following the murder, police could not locate Valdes' two year-old daughter. Apparently, she was with her aunt and uncle visiting the girl's mother in prison. Valdes's wife, Maricel Li, was only convicted in a Miami Medicare fraud case and is now incarcerated in a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida. Li pled guilty in 2007 with three other co-conspirators for filing fraudulent Medicare claims for medical equipment including prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs and other medical devices and supplies. She received a two year prison sentence, followed by a three year term of probation and $556,000 in restitution.
Slain Man Served Prison Time for Medicare Fraud, The Miami Herald, August 18, 2009.