Former President and Owner of Complete Medical Center, Inc. Arrested on Health Care Fraud Charges

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 arrest today of defendant Alejandro Rodriguez, 53, of Miami-Dade County, and the unsealing of a seven-count Indictment charging Rodriguez with health care fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1347. Each count carries a maximum of ten years’ imprisonment. A pre-trial detention hearing in this matter has been set for Wednesday, September 9, 2009, at 1:30 p.m., in front of U.S. Magistrate Chris M. McAliley.

According to the Indictment, in February, 2000, Rodriguez acquired Complete Medical Center, Inc., (“CMC”) a Miami-based company that purportedly provided durable medical equipment (“DME”) to Medicare beneficiaries. Rodriguez obtained and maintained control of CMC by purchasing all of the shares of stock of CMC and by registering as the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Director, and Registered Agent of CMC with the State of Florida, Division of Corporations. In April, 2000, Rodriguez notified Medicare that he was the new owner of CMC, the only officer and director of CMC, and the authorized representative for CMC. Later that month he opened up a business checking account for CMC, and was the sole signatory on that account.

>From the spring of 2000 through June 2008, CMC submitted approximately $3,570,502 in fraudulent claims to Medicare seeking reimbursement for DME items, such as oxygen concentrators, wheelchairs, and mattresses. Rodriguez falsely represented that these DME items and other services were prescribed by a doctor and had been provided to Medicare beneficiaries. As a result of such false and fraudulent claims, Rodriguez caused Medicare to make payments to CMC in the approximate amount of $1,590,265, at least $280,157 of which was deposited into CMC’s business checking account.

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 is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Hunter.

An Indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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 http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.