Plus, former DFS employee charged with stealing $1.7M
A Hurricane Ian trailer stealer is headed to prison, a genetic testing lab owner pleads guilty to $52 million in Medicare fraud, a former employee of the Florida Department of Financial Services is arrested in a $1.7 million claims fraud probe, plus how to take advantage of a free service to protect your home or business from bad actors. It’s all in this week’s Fraud News.
Ivan Gutierrez Miranda
Trailer Thief: Last Thursday, Ivan Gutierrez Miranda was sentenced to 15 years in prison on state RICO charges for stealing and reselling trailers meant for victims of Hurricane Ian in Charlotte County. According to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, Miranda and co-conspirators had an organized scheme, operating in the early hours and late at night to blend in with the large-scale movement of other RVs and campers. After a week-and-a-half long trial, punctuated with videos taken of Miranda himself advertising the stolen trailers, the Office of Statewide Prosecution had their guilty verdict for Conspiracy to Commit RICO, Organized Scheme to Defraud, and five counts of Dealing in Stolen Property. Each count got Miranda 15 years to be served concurrently. The Cuban national was in the U.S. illegally according to Uthmeier, and will be deported after he serves his sentence.
Sean Alterman’s Rolls Royce. Courtesy, DOJ
Genetic Test Fraud: In yet another Medicare kickback scheme, two Lake Worth laboratories, Live Beyond Medical MGMT and Dynix Diagnostics, operated by 38 year-old Sean Alterman, ran up over $52 million in fraudulent claims for genetic testing. Alterman pleaded guilty last month to purchasing doctor’s orders from patient recruiters who ran shady telemarketing campaigns to persuade Medicare beneficiaries to get expensive genetic testing. The recruiters also utilized a tactic known as “doctor chasing,” wherein they sent physicians false requests for unnecessary prescriptions, under the pretense they were requested by a mutual patient. Tricking both sides of the transaction – doctor and patient – Alterman pocketed about $5.5 million of the $36 million that Medicare paid-out, much of which he received through shell companies. He purchased a Lake Worth estate and a Rolls Royce from the proceeds, both forfeited as part of the plea. He is scheduled for sentencing on April 16 and could face up to 15 years in prison.
Briana McCarthy
An Inside Job: A former Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS) risk management specialist has been arrested, accused of racking-up over $1.7 million after several years of quiet crime. Briana McCarthy, 35, was arrested in late January for aggravated white-collar crime against a state agency, grand theft, money laundering, solicitation and conspiracy, official misconduct, and forgery, by intentionally approving fraudulent auto damage claims incurred by the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT). McCarthy started working for DFS in 2017 handling DOT’s damage claims, with suspicious activity beginning around 2021. Internal investigators stated three claims were paid outside of her unit area to people she is believed to know personally – first her boyfriend, then friends and family members. These claims were processed very quickly, and of the 224 suspicious claims, 206 were missing critical or required documents and 16 even listed the same vehicle registrations and repair estimates. Seventy-eight claimants did not have a vehicle registered in Florida and another 45 did not have a driver’s license or a vehicle. McCarthy is accused of heading the scheme, recruiting participants, altering the necessary documents, moving claims through the system to payees from Thomasville, Georgia all the way down to Miami, and then splitting the proceeds.
Statewide Property Alert Signup: Many Clerks and Comptrollers throughout the Sunshine State offer a free alert service to notify homeowners and businessowners when a deed, mortgage, or official record with their name has been filed through the system, helping safeguard law-abiding citizens against fraudsters. You can learn more and sign-up here.
LMA Newsletter of 2-9-26
