The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida has announced the sentencing of four individuals involved in a $54.3 million Medicare fraud scheme. The co-conspirators, who were sentenced between 15 months and five years of probation, defrauded Medicare by submitting claims for medically unnecessary medications.
Luis Lacerda, 37, was sentenced to three years and five months in prison, ordered to forfeit $15.6 million, and required to pay $54.3 million in restitution. Omar Solari, 36, received two years and six months in prison, with a forfeiture of $6.3 million and restitution of $36.2 million. Michael Murphy, 38, was sentenced to 15 months and must forfeit $3.6 million while paying $8.3 million in restitution. Joelson Viveros, 45, was given five years’ probation, forfeiting $894,116 and required to pay $3 million in restitution.
The fraudulent scheme involved paying kickbacks and bribes to telemarketing companies, which recruited Medicare beneficiaries and convinced them to accept prescriptions for unnecessary medications, primarily topical creams. These prescriptions were signed by physicians who often lacked a patient relationship with the beneficiaries, typically after brief phone consultations.
The co-conspirators then submitted claims for these prescriptions to Medicare through pharmacies they controlled, even “recycling” claims across multiple pharmacies to increase reimbursements. The operation led to over $54 million in fraudulent reimbursements to the defendants’ pharmacies.
