Health Care Fraud Money Launderer Sentenced
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 30, 2009 |
Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, and Christopher B. Dennis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, announced the sentencing today of Ihosvanny Anaya Martinez, 42, of Miami-Dade County, following his conviction on money laundering offenses relating to health care fraud.
United States District Court Judge Ursula Ungaro sentenced Martinez to 49 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Martinez had previously been convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h), and numerous substantive money laundering offenses, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) and 1957.
According to documents filed in the case, Martinez used two nominal companies and four accounts at four different banks to launder more than $1.2 million in proceeds from a health care fraud scheme. Martinez was the president of Marbe Distribution Corporation and Padrino Services, Inc. He established three accounts in the names of these companies at three separate banks and a fourth account in his own name at a fourth bank.
BJB Pharmacy Discount, Inc. was purportedly in the business of providing durable medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries. BJB Pharmacy submitted more than $5.6 million in fraudulent claims for reimbursement to Medicare, most of which involved chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drugs such as albuterol, levalbuterol, and budesonide. As a result of the fraudulent claims, Medicare paid more than $3.1 million to BJB Pharmacy.
From February 2006 through December 2008, approximately $1,226,784 of the $3.1 million in proceeds from the health care fraud scheme operated through BJB Pharmacy was laundered through Martinez’s four bank accounts. Martinez withdrew more than half of that money—$683,780—in cash through over 200 transactions. In this way, he depleted the assets of all four accounts. In addition to his sentence of imprisonment, Martinez also now is subject to a money judgment of $1,226,784.
“The amount of taxpayer money stolen by criminals abusing the Medicare reimbursement system in South Florida is substantial,” stated John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Miami’s office. “The FBI has devoted significant resources to address health care fraud and it will continue to be a top priority for the Miami FBI office.”
Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Hunter.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.