TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Over a dozen Floridians are dealing with prices following the conclusion of one of many Justice Division’s largest well being care fraud investigations on file.
The 2025 Nationwide Well being Care Fraud Takedown concerned federal and state regulation enforcement companies throughout the nation and was geared toward combatting well being care fraud schemes exploiting sufferers and taxpayers.
The trouble resulted in felony prices in opposition to 324 docs, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and different medical professionals throughout the nation — 19 of whom have been Floridians, and a number of of whom labored at bodily rehabilitation facilities in Tampa.
The proprietor of an unnamed Tampa rehabilitation middle, Alexis Del Sol Perez, 48, of Spring Hill, would recruit people to take part in staged visitors crashes and search medical consideration at his clinic, based on the DOJ.
Carlos Del Sol, 30, Tampa, who labored on the clinic, would then assist sufferers full insurance coverage paperwork containing false statements and pay them money in return. Authorities mentioned Del Sol and Del Sol Perez made at the very least $4.7 million by their scheme.
Greisys Cuellar Hernandez, 41, of Tampa, can also be accused of serving to stage visitors crashes and recruit people to hunt remedy on the bodily rehabilitation middle the place she labored, based on the DOJ. Her actions resulted in a number of insurance coverage payouts to the clinic, and detectives mentioned Hernandez was paid $52,000 for her position within the conspiracy.
Equally, investigators mentioned Ricardo Ramos, 49, of Tampa, would file false police reviews associated to staged visitors crashes and direct sufferers to report excessive ranges of ache whereas working as a chiropractor at a neighborhood clinic.
Different Floridians charged within the large investigation, like Eric Strom Holland, 55, of Fort Myers, have been prescribing medicine like oxycodone to sufferers who did not want them, based on officers.
Investigators mentioned Holland was working an “all-virtual ache clinic” and would use lies to recruit docs to work for him. Holland’s scheme resulted within the improper allotting of greater than 103,000 oxycodone tablets, based on detectives.
“Hundreds of thousands of Individuals depend on the moral and lawful practices of healthcare professionals and suppliers to ship vital providers to sufferers each day,” mentioned U.S. Lawyer for the Center District of Florida Gregory Kehoe. “When criminals exploit our federal healthcare applications and betray the belief of their beneficiaries, the integrity of our methods are compromised. Our workplace will proceed to work with our regulation enforcement companions to ferret out these criminals and produce them to justice.”
The opposite Floridians charged within the investigation embody:
- William Balsamo (65, Spring Hill) was charged with conspiracy to defraud the USA and to pay and obtain well being care kickbacks in reference to a scheme to supply docs’ orders to pharmacies, sturdy medical tools (“DME”) corporations, and laboratories in change for kickbacks, which led to at the very least $9 million in losses to Medicare.
- Edward Cannatelli (60, Parkland), Robbyn Cannatelli (68, Parkland), Thomas Farese (82, Fort Lauderdale), and Virginia Lockett (55, Margate) have been charged for his or her roles in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, make false statements regarding well being care issues, and provide and pay unlawful kickbacks and bribes.
- Patrick Michael Flint (43, Coconut Creek) pleaded responsible to conspiring to solicit and obtain kickbacks for referring Medicare beneficiaries for COVID-19 assessments and to buy and promote Medicare beneficiary identification numbers.
- Michelle Forsythe (61, Ocala) was charged with 14 counts of wire fraud and one depend of aggravated identification theft in reference to utilizing the names and insurance coverage coverage data of twenty-two people with out their information or consent to overbill medical insurance corporations.
- Leo Joseph Govoni (67, Clearwater) and John Leo Witeck (60, Tampa) have been charged by indictment for his or her roles in a conspiracy to solicit, steal, and misappropriate beneficiary funds from shoppers of the Heart for Particular Wants Belief Administration (CSNT).
- Lauren Hornbuckle (36, Seminole) was charged with one depend of tampering with a client product in connection together with her unlawfully buying and tampering with morphine at a hospital.
- Paula Pirone (68, Ocala) and Sophie Dufort (56, Gainesville) have been charged with numerous counts of conspiracy, well being care fraud, and paying kickbacks in reference to an alleged scheme to fraudulently invoice Medicare over $8.6 million for medically pointless orthotic braces.
- Ricardo Ramos (49, Tampa) was charged with one depend of conspiracy to commit cash laundering for his position in conducting monetary transactions involving proceeds of mail fraud.
- Chad Monroe (47, Tarpon Springs) was charged with conspiracy to commit well being care fraud and mail fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the USA and to supply, pay, solicit, and obtain well being care kickbacks, violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, and wire fraud in reference to a scheme to fraudulently invoice Medicare, Medicare Benefit Plans, and TRICARE for greater than $28 million for orthotic braces and to obtain round $15 million in unlawful kickbacks and bribes associated to genetic testing.
- Anagha Onuoha aka “Frank Emeka,” (61, St. Petersburg) was charged for making a false assertion in a passport software and theft of presidency funds.
The DOJ mentioned the over 300 individuals who have been arrested within the nationwide investigation are estimated to have triggered over $14.6 billion in losses as a result of their participation in numerous healthcare fraud schemes.
“This record-setting Well being Care Fraud Takedown delivers justice to felony actors who prey upon our most susceptible residents and steal from hardworking American taxpayers,” mentioned Lawyer Common Pamela Bondi. “Make no mistake – this administration is not going to tolerate criminals who line their pockets with taxpayer {dollars} whereas endangering the well being and security of our communities.”
