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The United States continues to pursue the three Cuban brothers who are among the 20 most wanted criminals and suspects by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Miami, for having defrauded Medicare of $119 million.
Carlos, José, and Luis Benítez are wanted for their involvement in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud Medicare in the Miami-Dade area of Florida, a note from Univision recalled this Tuesday. Carlos is facing charges for “allegedly providing infusion treatment for HIV to beneficiaries” of the health insurance.
The three brothers, fugitives from U.S. justice since 2008, were accused of defrauding $119 million from the federal health care program and “laundering part of the money through fake companies to finance the purchase of properties and luxury items in the Dominican Republic,” according to reports from local media.
The Benítez family were owners of a dozen clinics providing care for AIDS patients in the Miami-Dade area. These fraudulent clinics billed Medicare millions for very expensive medications intended for patients, but these patients were fictitious.
Carlos, José, and Luis Benítez were born in Cuba and emigrated to Florida in 1995. Five years later, they received United States citizenship, and in 2004 they were under investigation by federal authorities.
The note from Univision cites information from the FBI stating that the three Cubans may have traveled since then to their homeland, the Dominican Republic, or Nicaragua.
Nevertheless, the newspaper The Miami Herald reported in September 2008 that Cuban authorities had arrested the scammers and it was unclear whether U.S. authorities would attempt to negotiate their extradition.
The report indicated that Medicare paid the companies of the Benítez brothers around 84 million dollars between 2001 and 2004, according to federal prosecutors.
According to the newspaper, the brothers invested their ill-gotten gains in houses, helicopters, hotels, apartments, boats, and a water park in the tourist area of Bávaro.
The report states that, after being charged with federal fraud in Miami in late May 2008, they traveled with their Cuban passports from South Florida to the Dominican Republic and then to Cuba.
In the Dominican Republic, the Anti-Money Laundering Unit of the Attorney General's Office had a list in 2008 of 38 real estate properties acquired by the Benítez brothers and related individuals in that country, according to a report from that time by the newspaper El Nacional.
The list of the 20 most wanted in Miami by the FBI, published this Tuesday by Univision, includes individuals who have been accused or are suspected of terrorism, murders, kidnappings, and white-collar crimes.
The report urges anyone with information about any of these cases to contact their local FBI office or the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.
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