Florida Man Sentenced to 105 Months in Prison for Role in $16 Million Miami Health Care Fraud and Wire Fraud Scheme

Miami, Fl. – A federal judge in Miami sentenced Roberto Murillo, 44, of North Port, Florida, to 105 months in prison for his role in a massive health care fraud and wire fraud scheme involving fraudulent physical therapy claims. Senior U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz imposed the sentence, which came after a Miami jury found Murillo guilty in January 2020 of all counts charged, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, and several counts of health care fraud.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

The evidence at trial revealed that during the illegal scheme, Murillo had a legitimate job at a Miami telecommunications call center, and he received private insurance coverage through that job. As part of the fraud, Murillo used his position to recruit dozens of his colleagues, many of whom who he knew were suffering various financial and personal hardships, to Friv MD, PLLC, a fraudulent Miami physical therapy clinic in exchange for cash bribes.  Murillo also forced family members living under his roof to allow Murillo and his co-conspirators to use their insurance information to submit additional fraudulent claims.  The clinic, in turn, submitted over $16 million in claims to United Healthcare for services that were not performed or not medically necessary. 

Trial evidence established that Murillo’s role in the lengthy scheme did not stop at recruiting others to Friv MD.  Murillo also instructed the recruited “patients” to fill out paperwork for dates they did not receive services, to describe ailments they did not have to the therapists at the clinic, and to lie when questioned by investigators about the illegal scheme.  In some instances, Murillo also failed to pay the cash that he had promised to give recruited “patients” in exchange for their signatures, keeping it instead for himself.

U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne P. McNamara and Fraud Section Trial Attorney Drew Bradylyons.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrienne E. Rosen handled asset forfeiture.         

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under Case No. 19-CR-20436-PAS.