The owner of a Miami rehab clinic and two of her employees—a nurse practitioner and a therapist—are facing more than two dozen felony charges, including racketeering, following an undercover sting operation by state authorities.
Yanirma Toledo, 42, the owner of Ace Medical & Rehab Center, located at 3990 W. Flagler St. in the Flagami neighborhood, along with advanced practice registered nurse Maylett Leiva-Santana, 42, and therapist Lensky Jose Hernandez-Santiago, 43, were arrested on Tuesday. All three reside in southwest Miami-Dade, with Leiva-Santana and Hernandez-Santiago sharing an address in the Goulds area, though the nature of their relationship was not disclosed in the arrest reports.
The Florida Department of Financial Services Bureau of Insurance Fraud initiated its investigation in January after receiving multiple tips about the trio misleading and defrauding insurance companies.
On January 30, investigators created a fake crash report and arranged for two cooperating witnesses to visit the clinic. During their visit, the witnesses were asked to complete medical and therapy forms before seeing a doctor, receiving routine checkups and X-rays, but no actual therapy was provided. The clinic billed insurance companies for numerous therapy sessions that never occurred.
According to the arrest reports, Hernandez-Santiago paid one witness for bringing another to the clinic. He also instructed Leiva-Santana, identified as the clinic’s “doctor,” to add a nonexistent injury to a claim to secure additional funds from the insurance companies.
Authorities noted that the trio billed United Auto Insurance a total of $47,310 for the fictitious injuries.
Each suspect faces multiple charges, including racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to commit grand theft, two counts of organized scheme to defraud, and 23 counts of insurance fraud. Additionally, Hernandez-Santiago faces a charge of money laundering.
As of Tuesday afternoon, all three were being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on varying bond amounts.