A Cuban woman was arrested in Miami-Dade accused of participating in a Medicare fraud scheme, after allegedly routinely bribing patients to make fraudulent claims to the health insurance program, according to a police report.
At least five beneficiaries of the health coverage plan identified Margelys Moreira Pino, 50 years old, as the person who paid each of them between $200 and $600 in bribes just to attend psychosocial rehabilitation services, as reported by Local 10 News.
The arrest warrant, signed last Tuesday by Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Miguel M. de la O, indicates that Moreira carried out the scam while serving as operations manager of the Hathor Wellcare Center at 14269 SW 42 St. in Miami.
Moreira was "the only person in charge of paying the bribes, which were in cash, placed inside a white envelope," stated Ariel Pérez, a police investigator at the Attorney General's Office.
Between January 1, 2020, and July 12, 2023, the accused allegedly paid over $15,600 dollars in bribes, resulting in over $104,000 in fraudulent claims billed to Medicaid.
The records of Hathor Wellcare Center show that, in addition to being the operations manager, Moreira also served as the senior vice president of the Florida corporation and the registered agent of Hathor Investment Group.
Moreira was arrested on Thursday and placed in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK) in Miami-Dade. She faces a charge of Medicaid fraud/false claim submission.
On Friday, he appeared before the court and the judge set his bail at $50,000.
The Cuban woman is a native of Playa Larga, in the province of Matanzas, as stated on her social media.
The accusation against Moreira is part of the National Action against Healthcare Fraud announced by the Department of Justice last Thursday, which uncovered a massive scheme to submit false health care claims exceeding $2.75 billion.
The investigations led to the arrest of 193 individuals, including 76 doctors, nurse practitioners, and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged involvement in various fraud schemes across 32 federal districts throughout the United States.
In the Southern District of Florida, federal prosecutor Markenzy Lapointe announced criminal charges against 38 defendants, including several Cubans.
According to a report by El Nuevo Herald last March, the FBI office in Miami estimates that more than 100 individuals accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicare in South Florida are fugitives. Most of them are Cuban immigrants who fled to their home country or to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and other Spanish-speaking countries to evade justice.
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