FLORIDA
Mother and Daughter Co-Owners of Seven Miami, Florida-Area Home Health Agencies Each Sentenced to Over 10 Years in Prison for Roles in $20 Million Home Health Care Fraud Schemes, according to officials.
A mother and daughter who secretly co-owned and operated seven home health care agencies in the Miami, Florida area were each sentenced to over 10 years in prison Wednesday.
The pair was sentenced for their roles in a $20 million Medicare fraud conspiracy that involved paying illegal health care kickbacks to patient recruiters and medical professionals, authorities said.
U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez sentenced Mildrey Gonzalez, 61, and her daughter, Milka Alfaro, 39, both of Miami, to 11 years and three months and 12 years and 12 years and seven months.
The defendants were further ordered to pay about $22,900,000 in restitution. Gonzalez and Alfaro each plead guilty on March 2, having been charged in a July 2016 superseding indictment.
Gonzalez plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of health care fraud, while Alfaro pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, according to officials.
Alfaro and Gonzalez previously admitted that they secretly co-owned and operated seven home health agencies in the Miami area, yet failed to disclose their ownership interests in any of these agencies to Medicare, as required.
In addition, Alfaro and Gonzalez admitted to the following facts:
- Paying illegal health care kickbacks to a network of patient recruiters in order to bring Medicare beneficiaries into the scheme
- Paying bribes and kickbacks to medical professionals in return for providing home health referrals
- Directing co-conspirators to open shell corporations, into which millions of dollars’ worth of fraud proceeds were funneled
Furthermore, Alfaro and Gonzalez each admitted to perjury to attempting to influence the testimony of potential trial witnesses, and to submitting false affidavits concerning their assets to the court.
*This case was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service and HHS-OIG. Former Fraud Section Trial Attorney and current Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa H. Miller and Fraud Section Trial Attorney L. Rush Atkinson prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evelyn B. Sheehan and Alison W. Lehr also provided assistance regarding asset forfeiture issues in this case.