Press Release
MEDICARE FRAUD ORGANIZER SENTENCED TO 19 YEARS IN $7,000,000 FRAUD AND MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEME
March 7, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced today that defendant Angel Castillo, Jr., 32, of Miami, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan to 235 months (19 years) in prison for his role in orchestrating a $7,000,000 health care fraud and money laundering scheme. In addition, Castillo was ordered to pay more than $7,200,000 in restitution to the Medicare program and will be ordered to pay a $7,882,894 money judgment.
Angel Castillo, Jr. owned and controlled more than eight durable medical equipment companies in Miami during 2005 and 2006. The companies collectively submitted more than $48,000,000 in false claims using two medical billing companies. In reality, however, the companies never provided any Medicare patients with any type of equipment or service. Moreover, Castillo used a series of nominee or “straw” owners to conceal his ownership of the companies.
After receiving more than $7,000,000 in Medicare payments, Angel Castillo, Jr. then laundered the proceeds of the scheme using friends, family and other associates, including various bank employees, to cash hundreds of checks. In some instances, Castillo’s associates needed duffel bags to carry the cash out of local banks.
Co-defendants Miguel A. Castillo, Michael Labrada, Giovanni Guerrero and Javier Roberto More have all pled guilty to related health care fraud and money laundering offenses in the past months. Defendant Michael Labrada was also charged in a separate case involving another fraudulent company, JJ&D Medical Equipment, Inc., which submitted more than $5,000,000 in bogus equipment claims. Miguel Castillo and Michael Labrada are currently awaiting sentencing. Defendant Guerrero received a 37 month sentence and More received a 24 month sentence for putting Angel Castillo’s companies in their names and cashing checks.
In addition, in December 2007, U.S. District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan sentenced Juan A. Zaragoza to 57 months in prison and Angel Hernandez Quesada to 54 months in prison for their respective roles in the same scheme. Both men served as “straw” owners yet another company owned by Angel Castillo, Jr., known as S.Y.C. Home Medical Equipment, Inc. for a period of a few months during the summer of 2006. During that time, Medicare paid S.Y.C. approximately $1.8 million in response to the bogus claims, which were for DME items that were neither prescribed by doctors nor delivered to Medicare patients.
Mr. Acosta commended the FBI for their work in this investigation and prosecution. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney William J. Parente Jr. of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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