This week in Miami, three individuals related to a home therapy and care service were sentenced to prison, after having been convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud last year. The individuals, who operated Nany Home Health Inc were, according to court records, responsible for over fifty million in Medicare Fraud.

The defendants, Robert Gonzalez, Olga Gonzalez, and Fabian Gonzalez were sentenced to 120, 87, and 87 months in federal prison respectively, as well as 36 months of probation after their release. They were also fined forty million dollars, which is expected to be paid as a single fine for all co-defendants.

The owners of this home healthcare business plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud earlier and, as part of their plea agreement, admitted to attempting to defraud the US Federal Government. They admitted their role in utilizing patient recruiters, who were paid illegal kickbacks for providing Medicare patients to use their service. This included not just physical therapy, but also prescription drug fraud and unneeded medical services.

One interesting difference between this and some of the other common Medicare scams that involve recruiters is that, allegedly, the Gonzalez’s used staffing agencies located in Miami to help provide patients.

Prosecutors contend that many of the patients that received home healthcare services from the Gonzalez’s company were not qualified to receive these Medicare benefits, allegedly falsifying patient records to include symptoms that the Medicare recipient did not actually have.

The Medicare fraud is alleged to have taken place between 2006 and 2009, receiving almost forty million dollars from fraudulent claims they submitted to Medicare.

Nany Home Health is based in Florida and provided services to those on Medicare, including physical therapy and general home healthcare. According to public records, Nany Home Health Inc, which has a Miami address, has been in business for over 15 years, with tax records going back to 1995. Court records indicate that Roberto Gonzalez was the president, Olga Gonzalez was the vice-president, and Fabian Gonzalez was more closely tied to general operations.