A mother and her daughter were accused of bribery and defrauding more than 12 million dollars with false claims to the public health system (Medicare) through the pharmacy they owned in South Florida (USA), reported this Friday the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of the Southern District of this state.
Mirosis González, 58, and her daughter Berioska Sosa, 32, were indicted by a grand jury for “paying bribes” in exchange for referrals of Medicare beneficiaries to their pharmacy and then using that information to defraud millions of dollars from this federal health coverage program.
González and Sosa owned Aviva Care Pharmacy in the city of Sunrise, in Broward County, north of Miami, and, according to the indictment, from 2016 to 2020 “they paid bribes to marketing and telemedicine companies in exchange for refer Medicare beneficiaries” to your pharmacy, as well as medical prescriptions.
The “bribed companies” sent Aviva orders for expensive medical equipment and drug prescriptions “without regard to medical necessity or eligibility for reimbursement” by Medicare.
During these years, the defendants negotiated bribery agreements with the companies and created false contracts intended to disguise the bribes as payments for marketing and other services, the Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
According to the indictment, mother and daughter submitted false claims to Medicare for more than $12 million, claims for which Aviva received more than $8.4 million.
Mother and daughter were charged with the crimes of “conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks.”
