Federal Grand Jury Indicts Maverick County Commissioner Rodolfo Bainet Heredia in Connection with a Bribery, Kickback, and Bid-Rigging Scheme

In Del Rio this morning, a federal grand jury indicted Maverick County Precinct Two Commissioner Rodolfo Bainet Heredia, age 54, of Eagle Pass, Texas, in connection with an alleged bribery, kickback, and bid-rigging scheme, announced United States Attorney Robert Pitman and FBI Special Agent in Charge Armando Fernandez.
The federal grand jury indictment charges Heredia with six counts of receiving a bribe and one count of paying a bribe to an agent of an organization receiving federal funds. The indictment alleges that in 2010 and 2011, Heredia manipulated the bidding process to guarantee that contractors he chose would be awarded Maverick County construction contracts. Those contractors deposited the checks issued to them by Maverick County and then made cash payments to Heredia. According to the indictment, the private contractors submitted inflated bids to Maverick County in order to ensure the availability of sufficient funds to perform the construction work, make a profit, and also to pay the bribe to Heredia. The indictment further alleges that Heredia gave benefits to a county employee to guarantee that checks were issued to the contractors involved in this scheme.
Upon conviction, Heredia faces up to 10 years in federal prison on each count. Heredia remains in custody following his arrest in October of last year on federal money laundering and bulk cash smuggling charges. A trial on those charges is scheduled for April 16, 2013. No court dates have been scheduled in connection with today’s indictment.
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Individuals who have first-hand information about corruption, fraud, or bribery related to Maverick County are urged to contact the FBI at (210) 225-6741.
Assistant United States Attorney Michael Galdo is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
An indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Former New Jersey Law Firm Employee Sentenced to 21 Months in Prison for Stealing More Than $500,000 from Law Firm

TRENTON—The former bookkeeper of a law firm based in Ocean County, New Jersey was sentenced to 21 months for defrauding her former employer by stealing more than $500,000 from the firm, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Sharon Wetter, 53, of Forked River, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper to an information charging her with one count of mail fraud. Judge Cooper imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Wetter admitted that between 2004 and October 2010, she embezzled from her former employer, referred to in court documents only as the “law firm,” by wrongfully writing checks from the bank accounts of the firm to pay her outstanding personal credit card balances and to make car payments. Wetter concealed those payments by altering the law firm’s electronic books and records to make it appear that the checks were for legitimate business expenses. Wetter, who had access to checks and bank accounts in order to perform her duties as the firm’s bookkeeper, used that access to divert more than $500,000.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Cooper sentenced Wetter to three years of supervised release and ordered Wetter to make restitution in the amount of $521,596.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Red Bank Resident Agency of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge David Velazquez, for their work in the investigation of this case.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Harvey Bartle of the U.S. Attorney’s Trenton Office.

Florida-Based American Sleep Medicine to Pay $15.3 Million for Improperly Billing Medicare and Other Federal Health Care Programs

WASHINGTON—Florida-based American Sleep Medicine LLC has agreed to pay $15,301,341 to resolve allegations that it billed Medicare, TRICARE—the health care program for Uniformed Service members, retirees, and their families worldwide—and the Railroad Retirement Medicare Program for sleep diagnostic services that were not eligible for payment, the Justice Department announced today.
American Sleep, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, owns and operates 19 diagnostic sleep testing centers throughout the United States, including in Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. The company’s primary business is to provide testing for patients suffering from sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea. The test results are used by doctors to determine the most appropriate course of treatment for patients. The most common tool used to diagnose sleep disorders, particularly sleep apnea, is a procedure called polysomnographic diagnostic sleep testing. Under federal program requirements for the reimbursement of claims submitted for sleep disorder testing, initial sleep studies must be conducted by technicians who are licensed or certified by a state or national credentialing body as sleep test technicians.
The United States contend that Medicare and TRICARE claims submitted by American Sleep during this period were false because the diagnostic testing services were performed by technicians who lacked the required credentials or certifications, when it knew this violated the law. American Sleep submitted false claims to Medicare and TRICARE between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2011, according to the United States’ allegations.
“Medicare patients and military families deserve to be treated by appropriately credentialed professionals when seeking medical care,” said Stuart F. Delery, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “When companies providing those services seek to skirt the rules, there will be a steep price to pay.”
“Pursuing health care fraud is a priority of my office and the Department of Justice. We will continue to work with the Department of Health and Human Services and the public to ensure that fraudulent claims are investigated and those responsible are required to pay,” stated David J. Hale, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky. “Medical providers who overbill Medicare defraud the taxpayers and drive up the cost of health care for us all. Recovering taxpayer dollars lost to fraud helps keep strong those critical public health care programs so many people depend on.”
“Patients seeking care from licensed professionals deserve to receive exactly what was represented, and the taxpayer-funded Medicare program expects no less,” said Derrick Jackson, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General Region IV, which includes Kentucky. “The company has agreed to federal monitoring and reporting requirements designed to avoid such problems in the future.”
The allegations covered by today’s settlement were raised in a lawsuit filed against American Sleep under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act. United States ex rel. Daniel Purnell v. American Sleep Medicine LLC, no. 3:07-cv-12-S (Western District of Kentucky). The act allows private citizens with knowledge of fraud to bring civil actions on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery. Relator Daniel Purnell will receive $2,601,228 as part of today’s settlement.
In addition to the $15.3 million payment, American Sleep entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services. The agreement requires enhanced accountability and wide-ranging monitoring activities conducted by both internal and independent external reviewers.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Delery thanked the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, the Medicare Railroad Retirement Program, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky, and the Commercial Litigation Branch for the collaboration that resulted in today’s settlement. The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
This resolution is part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and another step for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced by Attorney General Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in May 2009. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in that effort is the False Claims Act, which the Justice Department has used to recover $10.1 billion since January 2009 in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs. The Justice Department’s total recoveries in False Claims Act cases since January 2009 are over $13.9 billion.

Physical Therapy Assistant Pleads Guilty in Connection with Detroit Medicare Fraud Scheme

WASHINGTON—Detroit-area resident Ankit Patel pleaded guilty today for his role in a $13.8 million home health care fraud scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade; Special Agent in Charge Robert D. Foley, III of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh, III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Chicago Regional Office.
Patel, 28, of Westland, Michigan, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen of the Eastern District of Michigan.
According to court documents, Patel was paid beginning in June 2009 to falsify medical documentation for Physicians Choice Home Health Care LLC, a home health agency owned by his alleged co-conspirators. Patel, a physical therapy assistant, pleaded guilty to creating evaluations, therapy revisit notes, and other medical documentation memorializing purported physical therapy for patients he did not see or treat. According to court documents, an alleged co-conspirator instructed Patel on how to falsify medical documentation. Patel also signed therapy revisit notes as a physical therapy assistant for patients he did not see or treat. Patel admitted to knowing that the documents he falsified and the documents he signed would be used to support false claims to Medicare for home health services.
According to Patel’s plea agreement, he was subsequently paid to create and sign falsified medical documentation for First Care Home Health Care LLC, Quantum Home Care Inc., and Moonlite Home Care Inc., which were Detroit-area home health care companies also owned by alleged co-conspirators that billed Medicare.
From approximately June 2009 through September 2011, Medicare paid approximately $1,324,015 to Physicians Choice and Quantum for fraudulent physical therapy claims based on falsified files and notes signed by Patel.
At sentencing, scheduled for March 25, 2013, Patel faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Ten of Patel’s co-defendants have pleaded guilty, and one has been sentenced. Three co-defendants are fugitives, and five co-defendants await trial.
This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Catherine K. Dick of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. It was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,480 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $4.8 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

Former Superintendent of Toms River Regional School District and Insurance Broker Ordered to Pay $4.3 Million in Restitution

TRENTON—Michael J. Ritacco, the former superintendent for the Toms River, New Jersey, Regional School District, and Francis X. Gartland, the former insurance broker for the Toms River Regional School District, have been ordered to pay $4,336,987.91 in restitution to the school district, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Frank D’Alonzo, the former supervisor of Athletics and Special Projects for the School District, was ordered to pay $1,625,952.79 in restitution.
Ritacco, 64, of Seaside Heights, New Jersey; Gartland, 71, of Baltimore, Maryland; and D’Alonzo, 55, of Lavallette, New Jersey, all previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano in Trenton federal court to charges relating to a bribery and kickback scheme involving themselves and other conspirators, including Frank Cotroneo.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
The bribery and kickback scheme spanned 2002 to 2010, during which time Ritacco accepted $1 million to $2 million in bribes and other benefits from the conspirators in return for Ritacco’s official action and influence in order for Gartland to obtain and maintain insurance contracts at the school district. Ritacco and Gartland were each sentenced to 135 months in prison and D’Alonzo was sentenced to 37 months in prison.
As part of their plea agreements, Ritacco, Gartland, and D’Alonzo agreed to make restitution. Following a hearing on December 12, 2012, Judge Pisano yesterday issued an opinion in which the court concluded that the school district was “unquestionably” the victim of the defendants bribery and kickback scheme and determined the loss from the fraud scheme was $4,336,987.91. The loss consisted of excess money the district paid to Gartland and his entities, which were then passed to Ritacco as bribes, derived from the district’s health insurance coverage and worker’s compensation program. Ritacco and Gartland were ordered to pay the full amount of the school district’s loss, jointly and severally, while D’Alonzo was ordered to pay a portion of the loss consistent with the years in which he was involved actively in the criminal scheme.
In addition to ordering restitution, the court also ordered that Gartland forfeit to the United States a sum of $11 million, which represented all proceeds derived from the fraudulent scheme. D’Alonzo also was ordered to forfeit a sum of $4.3 million, which represented the proceeds derived from the scheme while he was an active participant. Prior to his sentencing on September 14, 2012, Ritacco forfeited to the United States $1 million, a 2010 Mercedes Benz, and $8,950 in cash.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward; and IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen, for the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dustin Chao, Harvey Bartle, and Lee M. Cortes, Jr. of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division.

Las Vegas Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Robbing Three Banks in May 2011

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning in federal court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Justin A. Wolaver, 27, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment for robbing three banks, including a bank in Raton, New Mexico, in May 2011. Wolaver will be on supervised release for five years after he completes his prison sentence. He also was ordered to pay full restitution to each of the three victim banks.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that Wolaver pled guilty on July 27, 2012, to (1) the armed robbery of Bank of America in Hudson, Florida, on May 2, 2011; (2) the robbery of Chase Bank in Flagstaff, Arizona, on May 9, 2011; and (3) the armed robbery of the Bank of America in Raton on May 23, 2011.
Court records reflect that Wolaver was arrested after robbing the Bank of America in Raton at gunpoint on May 23, 2011. Wolaver walked into the bank, approached the bank teller, displayed what appeared to be a handgun, and verbally demanded money. After the bank teller provided cash to Wolaver, he fled in a small, white sedan. Officers of the Raton Police Department followed the sedan with lights and sirens as it left the bank. Officers of the New Mexico State Police and Colfax County Sheriff’s Office joined the pursuit when Wolaver tried to outrun the police. Wolaver was apprehended approximately 40 miles south of Raton. After his arrest, Wolaver confessed to robbing the Bank of America in Raton. He also confessed to robbing two other banks earlier that month.
Wolaver has been in federal custody since May 24, 2011. On July 27, 2012, Wolaver agreed to waive his right to be prosecuted in the judicial districts where he committed the out of state crimes and to plead guilty to the bank robberies in Florida and Arizona in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
The case was investigated by the Albuquerque Field Office of the FBI, the Raton Police Department, the New Mexico State Police, and the Colfax County Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shammara H. Henderson.

Four-Time Fraudster Sentenced to 44 Months in Prison

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis sentenced Ronald Louis Coleman, age 65, of Baltimore, today to 44 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for using one or more unauthorized credit and/or debit cards. Judge Garbis also ordered Coleman to pay restitution of $102,314.54.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to Coleman’s plea agreement, from March through December 9, 2011, Coleman possessed a skimmer device, which he provided to an employee of a popular Baltimore restaurant so that the employee could obtain the credit card numbers from patrons of the restaurant as they paid their bills. The employee skimmed a number of cards each week and then turned the skimmer over to Coleman, who downloaded the information using a computer. Coleman used the information to encode blank cards with the stolen credit card account number and then he and others used the cards to obtain cash at ATMs and to purchase merchandise and services.
During the same time, Coleman directed other individuals to call American Express, posing as an American Express employee, to obtain access to active and closed accounts in the American Express computer system. In this way, Coleman caused American Express to remove holds that were placed on accounts, to issue unauthorized credit cards, and to have those cards mailed to an address provided by Coleman. Coleman removed the cards from the mail, or directed others to do so, and then he and others used the unauthorized cards to make purchases. A search of Coleman’s home on December 9, 2011, recovered three blank cards encoded with different American Express credit card numbers belonging to individuals living outside Maryland. The investigation showed that at least 10 American Express accounts were compromised, and the total loss to American Express is between $70,000 and $120,000.
At the time of this activity, Coleman was on supervised release for a previous federal conviction related to credit card fraud and had been convicted of similar crimes two other times.
Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory, and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions, and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein praised Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard C. Kay, who is prosecuting the case.