Source: US FBI
MIAMI – The United States has filed civil forfeiture complaints in the Southern District of Florida against two purported durable medical equipment (DME) companies accused of fraudulently billing Medicare more than $33 million combined.
According to allegations in the complaints, Vida Med Center LLC and Med-Union Medical Center, Inc., both enrolled Medicare providers, submitted false and fraudulent claims for DME that were medically unnecessary and not provided as represented.
Vida Med submitted $14,110,820.00 in claims to Medicare and received $8,759,036.68 in reimbursements. Med-Union submitted $19,044,516.07 in Medicare claims and received $14,167,792.92 in payments. Notably, all of Med-Union’s paid Medicare claims were based on prescriptions issued by a single provider. The civil forfeiture actions seek to recover $967,760.37 and $10,014,325.40, respectively, in proceeds from the fraudulently obtained taxpayer dollars.
U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida; Acting Special Agent in Charge Jesus Barranco of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, (HHS-OIG), Miami Regional Office; and Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office made the announcement.
FBI Miami and HHS-OIG are investigating the cases.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marx P. Calderón and Joshua Paster for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting these civil actions.
A civil forfeiture complaint is merely an allegation that money or property was involved in or represents the proceeds of a crime. These allegations are not proven until a court awards a judgment in favor of the United States.
You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 25-cv-23345 and 25-cv-23340.
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