Miami Herald: Guilty verdict in Medicare fraud case
Feb 8, 2010
The Miami Herald published this article on February 5, 2010.
A former partner in a vast Medicare racket was convicted of healthcare fraud Thursday in Miami federal court.
Yasmanny Benavides, 28, of Miami, operated two medical-equipment companies that submitted about $19.5 million in bogus bills to the government healthcare program without providing services to patients, prosecutor Christopher Clark said.
His sentencing is set for May 10.
At trial, one-time Medicare operator Reinaldo Guerra testified against his former partner, saying Benavides ran Lacary Medical Servcies Equipment and Lily Orthopedic in 2003-04.
Those businesses were part of Guerra’s chain of medical-equipment businesses that filed $179 million of phony claims with Medicare, Clark said.
Guerra pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud charges in November and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.