Home Miami Press Releases 2009 South Florida Medicare Fraud Prosecutors and Agents Receive 2009 Excellence in Public Awareness Award
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South Florida Medicare Fraud Prosecutors and Agents Receive 2009 Excellence in Public Awareness Award
Honorable Mention to All-Med Prosecution Team

U.S. Attorney’s Office November 18, 2009
  • Southern District of Florida (305) 961-9001

Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Christopher B. Dennis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Miami Regional Office, announced that a team of Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorneys and agents from the FBI and HHS-OIG, have received the 2009 Excellence in Public Awareness Award, presented by the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) Institute for Health Care Fraud Prevention. The NHCAA, founded in 1985 by private health insurers and federal and state government officials, includes more than 100 private health insurers and law enforcement and regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over health care fraud crimes committed against both private insurers and public programs.

The award will be presented at a ceremony at the NHCCA’s Annual Conference on November 18, 2009, in Orlando, Florida. The prosecutors and agents receiving the award will be recognized for their outstanding efforts in the investigation and prosecution of health care fraud in South Florida, and for helping to bring the full scope of the Medicare fraud problem to the forefront of domestic policy and public awareness. Since 2005, these prosecutors and agents have devoted their attention and resources to combat health care fraud, and results have followed.  ndeed, since 2005, 880 defendants have been charged in the Southern District of Florida with submitting more than $2.5 billion in false claims to the Medicare program. 

Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman stated, “These dedicated prosecutors and agents have helped focus national attention on the magnitude of the health care fraud epidemic. Their hard work has brought hundreds of fraudsters to justice and led to the recovery of millions of stolen Medicare dollars. They are to be commended.”  

FBI Special Agent in Charge John V. Gillies stated, “The agents and prosecutors working health care fraud are most deserving of this award and we thank the National Health Care Anti-fraud Association for this honor. Working side by side with HHS-OIG and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, we will continue our efforts to address the health care fraud problem here in South Florida.”

“These special agents and prosecutors—working through the Medicare Strike Force—have shined a bright, national spotlight on the plague of Medicare fraud in South Florida,” said Christopher Dennis, Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Regional Office for the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “The challenges are daunting, but by combining efforts with our law enforcement partners we continue to fight on behalf of taxpayers and our country’s health care system.”

Those being honored today include:

  • From the United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida, Economic and Environmental Crimes Section, Miami Office: Eric I. Bustillo, Chief and Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA); Luis M. Pérez, Deputy Chief; Daniel J. Bernstein, AUSA; Christopher Clark, AUSA; Oliver Benton Curtis, III, AUSA; H. Ron Davidson, AUSA; Christopher J. Hunter, AUSA; William Parente, SAUSA; Alicia E. Shick, AUSA; Ryan K. Stumphauzer, AUSA; and Cori L. Weiss, Health Care Fraud Paralegal Specialist.

  • From the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Division: Timothy P. Donovan, Assistant Special Agent in Charge; Randall C. Culp, Supervisory Special Agent; Christopher A. McRae, Special Agent (SA); Brian L. Waterman, SA; Jacob R. Guffey, SA; Bradford Karns, SA; Ivonne Alduende, SA; Nasson Walker, SA; Catherine H. Nazworth, SA; Liz S. Santamaria, SA; Julia A. Crenshaw, SA; Robert F. Cessario, SA; Bryan D. Piper, SA; Ian A. Purify; SA; Scott P. Neville, SA; Charles W. Thumann, SA; Jacob McGinty, SA; Susan E. Shimpeno, SA; Mark E. McCormick, SA; Melanie A. Jimenez, SA; Joel E. Cox, III, SA; Nicholas H. Potito, SA; Clint E. Warren, SA; Scott A. Houser, SA; and Lynnette Alvarez-Karnes, SA.

  • From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Miami Regional Office: Elton E. Malone, Assistant Special Agent in Charge; Bernardo Rodriguez, Assistant Special Agent in Charge; Special Agents Julie Rivera; Robyn W. Ziemer; Rodolfo Martinez; Omar Perez; Edye E. Palma; John A., Mejia; Jesus Barranco; and Jose Braniella.

In addition, in a separate category, Assistant U.S. Attorneys and Special Agents involved in the sweeping All-Med Billing Corp. investigation and prosecution were awarded Honorable Mention in the 2009 Investigation of the Year Category. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marc Osborne and Christopher Clark; FBI Special Agents Rolf Gjertsen and Cesar Facio; HHS-OIG Special Agents Jose Braniella and Jesus Barranco; Benefit Integrity Manager for TrustSolutions, LLC Kimberly Coffey; Data Infomatics Manager John Fehlhaber; and Data Analyst Tim Fickle, were recognized for their work in the investigation and prosecutions related to All-Med Billing Corporation, the largest health care fraud investigation in the Southern District and the first instance in which a billing company was held criminally responsible for the widespread submission of fraudulent claims by its customers.

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.

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