Miami Man Held Without Bond in Medicare Fraud Case
January 04, 2010
A federal magistrate judge held a man without bond on a massive
Miami Medicare fraud case. Ihosvany Marquez appeared at his bond hearing this morning for charges stemming from a $55 million Medicare fraud scheme. The indictment alleges that Marquez billed the federal healthcare program for falsified HIV and cancer treatments allegedly performed at seven healthcare clinics in Miami and Orlando. Marquez and his co-defendants received approximately $22 million from Medicare between 2005 and 2007. A
Miami criminal lawyer appeared on behalf of Marquez and entered a not guilty plea. The attorney argued for a bond. The magistrate decided and ordered pre-trial detention based on the assertions made by the U.S. Attorney's Office that Marquez was a substantial flight risk.
Marquez is alleged to have spent millions of dollars on expensive automobiles for himself, his wife and other family members. He also purchased in excess of $500,000 in jewelry and spent another million on thoroughbred race horses. Marquez was indicted along with his business partner Michel De Jesus Huarte. Huarte previously entered a guilty plea and is scheduled to appear later this month in
federal court for sentencing. The large scale Medicare fraud was mostly consummated in the six Miami clinics. One of the clinics was called "Tender Loving Care".
Huarte and Marquez are also charged with
money laundering by using shell companies such as Babalu Telemarketing and Madreagua Construction to name a couple of them. The Defendants are accused of billing Medicare for infusion treatments that were supposedly provided to patients, but were neither prescribed nor administered. They are also alleged to have hired Cuban immigrants to act as clinic owners. Court records indicate that the defendants advised the "straw owners" to flee to Cuba if they became involved in a federal investigation or were arrested. Two of the purported owners have allegedly already fled the jurisdiction.
As Medicare shut down the Marquez/Huarte operation, Huarte became involved with Ramon Fonseca in another Medicare fraud conspiracy. They owned and operated another 30 clinics in Miami and billed out approximately $46 million to private insurers operating under the umbrella of Medicare. Medicare paid out approximately $9 million to the clinics owned and operated by Huerta and Fonseca. If you have been contacted by federal law enforcement officer regarding healthcare fraud, contact an experienced Miami Medicare fraud criminal lawyer experienced in defending cases in federal court to protect your rights.
Suspect in $55 Million Miami-Dade Medicare Fraud Held Without Bail, The Miami Herald, January 4, 2009.
