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A Cuban citizen residing in Miami-Dade County, Florida, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for participating in a scheme to defraud Medicare out of more than 3.2 million dollars through a fake durable medical equipment company, reported the U.S. Department of Justice.
In addition to the prison sentence, the defendant Julián López, 55 years old, will have to pay $1,496,412 in restitution for the losses due to the embezzlement, according to the ruling issued by the judge on May 20.
In February 2025, López pleaded guilty to two counts of healthcare fraud.
According to court records, the Cuban obtained Medicare beneficiary identification cards and sold his personal information to One Medical Services, a durable medical equipment (DME) supply company, fully aware that those documents would be used to file fraudulent claims to Medicare.
The information provided by López was used by One Medical Services to bill Medicare for orthopedic devices that were never delivered to the beneficiaries, stated the press release from the Department of Justice.
As part of the scam, the company submitted or caused the submission of more than $3.2 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for medical equipment that was not medically necessary.
This case adds to the increasing number of healthcare fraud cases in South Florida, many of which have involved Cuban citizens or individuals connected to the island.
In March, the Cuban Fernando Espinosa León, 60 years old and a resident of Florida, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison after being found guilty of Medicare fraud exceeding $7.6 million and aggravated identity theft, using his company. The judge also ordered the confiscation of $4,013,148.76 from Espinosa, obtained through his crimes.
Around the same time, the Cuban businessman from Hialeah Edelberto Borges Morales, 62 years old, was accused of laundering 1.9 million dollars as part of a scheme to defraud the health program that reached 41 million dollars, and of having sent part of those funds to Cuba.
Borges was arrested by federal agents when he was about to board a flight to Varadero on March 20. According to the investigation, the man made around 35 trips between Miami and Cuba in a span of two years, which raised suspicions among authorities that part of the money was moved to the island.
The Cuban faces a federal charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which could result in a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
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