December 17, 2018

Margarita Palomino, of Homestead, Florida, has been sentenced to over six years in prison for her part in a health care scheme which defrauded Medicare out of $4.65 million. The scheme involved three home health agencies that claimed to provide services to Medicare patients. Palomino, licensed as a physician in Cuba, but not in the United States, admitted that she provided home health care nursing visits and prepared the accompanying medical records as would a licensed medical professional in the U.S. Furthermore, between the approximate time of January 2010 and January 2014, Palomino admitted to accepting kickbacks in return for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries, the majority of whom did not need or even qualify for the services. In addition to spending 78 months in prison, Palomino has been ordered to pay $4,658,241.00 in restitution and to forfeit $186,650.50.  DOJ

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Criminal Proceedings, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicare,