GUILTY PLEA GIVEN IN $5 MILLION HEALTH CARE FRAUD

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Former Owner of Durable Medical Equipment Company Pleads Guilty in $5 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

A Miami man pleaded guilty today to health care fraud charges in connection with a $5 million scheme to defraud Medicare.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Derrick Jackson of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of HHS-OIG’s Dallas Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Paul Wysopal of the FBI’s Tampa Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI’s Houston Field Office made the announcement.

Angel M. Mirabal, 62, of Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke of the Southern District of Florida.  A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 6, 2015.

In connection with his guilty plea, Mirabal admitted that he was the owner, president and manager of Quick Solutions Medical Supplies Inc. (Quick Solutions), a durable medical equipment (DME) supply company located in Houston, Texas.  Mirabel further admitted that from April 2010 through July 2013, he and his co-conspirators operated Quick Solutions for the purpose of billing the Medicare program for, among other things, expensive DME that was medically unnecessary and in many instances not provided to the Medicare beneficiaries.  Indeed, many of the beneficiaries who purportedly received the DME resided hundreds of miles away in Miami.

From June 2011 through February 2012, Quick Solutions submitted approximately $5 million in fraudulent claims, and Medicare paid approximately $587,900 for these claims.

This case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG and Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.  This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Timothy P. Loper of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,100 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6.5 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.