In October of 2023, 42 year-old Karel Felipe and 54 year-old Tamara Quicutis were convicted. A jury had found the pair guilty of conspiring to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and conspiring to commit money laundering. The report of their conviction noted that they each faced a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each charge.
Last week Friday, Felipe and Quicutis, who reside in Miami Shores and Hialeah respectively, were sentenced to prison. Felipe was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison. Quicutis will spend the next five years and 10 months in prison.
This information comes courtesy of a recent Office of Public Affairs report. It describes the case as a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud Medicare. Felipe and Quicutis bilked the insurance program for over $93 million in home health therapy services that were never rendered. Court documents and evidence presented at trial showed that the duo conspired with others to submit false bills to Medicare.
Their co-conspirators recruited individuals from Cuba.
On behalf of three different home health companies located in Michigan, Felipe and Quicutis got their Cuban allies to sign Medicare enrollment documents and appear as the owners of the Michigan-based home health agencies. This helped to conceal the identities of Felipe, Quicutis and the others involved in the scheme.
“Felipe, Quicutis, and their co-conspirators used these home health companies to submit claims for services that were not rendered using lists of stolen patient identities,” details the report, “Felipe, Quicutis, and their co-conspirators used dozens of shell companies and hundreds of bank accounts to launder the Medicare fraud proceeds and convert the proceeds into cash at Miami-area ATMs and check cashing stores.”
Four additional Florida residents were previously sentenced in the case.
52 year-old Jesus Trujillo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The Miami resident was sentenced to 14 years in prison. The court also ordered him to forfeit the $44,351,817 he accrued via the money laundering scheme. As well, the court ordered the forfeiture of two real properties to satisfy that judgment.
44 year-old Didier Arcia was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison. The Davenport resident pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. 41 year-old Alexey Gil of Miami was sentenced to five years and five months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. 33 year-old Jeffrey Avila of Miami was sentenced to time served and supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.
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