The owners and operators of Serendipity Home Health Inc, a physical therapy and home medical care company located in Miami Florida, plead guilty this week to a single count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, which allegedly was related to around $20 million in fraudulent Medicare Billings. The fraud, according to prosecutors, took place during 2007 to 2009 and they received approximately $15 million in reimbursement from Medicare.

Allegedly, Reynaldo Navarro and Ariel Rodriguez, who are listed in court documents as the owners of Serendipity Health, paid illegal kickbacks to those who referred Medicare recipients to their home healthcare business. In turn, they were, as per their plea agreements, using this information to bill Medicare for services that were not medically required, including physical therapy. Reynaldo Navarro is 41 years old and Ariel Rodriguez is 37 years old.

According to statements made in court, the patient recruiters also sometimes provided certificates of medically necessity, which are used by Medicare to justify reimbursement for things like wheelchairs or other durable medical equipment, in addition to prescribing unneeded medications that would also be billed to Medicare illegally.

Ariel Rodriguez is listed as the president and registered agent of Serendipity Home Health Inc., which was established in 2006 and is currently listed as Inactive in Florida’s Division of Corporations. Their last annual report was from 2009 and they list a Miami Florida business address in the 33135 zip code.

In addition to Ariel Rodriguez and Reynaldo Navarro, two other employees of Serendipity’s Home Medical Services, Melissa Rodriguez and Ysel Salado, have also been implicated in this case of Medicare fraud. Melissa Rodriguez, who is 24, plead guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud last week, on the 28th of March. Salado, who is 26 years old, plead guilty with Reynaldo Navarro and Ariel Rodriguez to the same charge.