South Florida nursing assistant gets 9 years in prison in $11.4M health care fraud

A South Florida nursing assistant was sentenced to nearly a decade in prison in connection with an $11.4 million health care fraud scheme in which Medicare beneficiaries were sent orthotic braces they didn’t need, authorities said.

Christian “Chris” Cruz, of Pompano Beach, was sentenced Monday to nine years in prison and two years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said.

The 45-year-old was also ordered to pay over $3.7 million in restitution and nearly $725,000 in forfeiture.

He had been facing a maximum of 125 years in prison.

Cruz had operated a medical equipment supplier through which he submitted millions of dollars in false claims to Medicare for the medically unnecessary orthotic braces that were sent to hundreds of beneficiaries, prosecutors said.

Authorities said Cruz and his co-conspirator paid illegal kickbacks and bribes to obtain signed doctors’ orders which were used to ship the braces, before Cruz claimed payment from Medicare.

Cruz received hundreds of thousands of dollars in his personal bank account that was withdrawn from South Florida banks just under the bank reporting threshold of $10,000.

In addition, Cruz lied to Medicare, claiming that he was the sole owner and operator of the company when in fact he shared ownership in the company with his co-conspirator, a convicted felon, prosecutors said.

Medicare wouldn’t have allowed the company to enroll with Medicare if it had known about Cruz’s co-conspirator.

The co-conspirator has been charged but remains at large.

Cruz was convicted in January of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, four counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make false statements relating to health care matters and three counts of structuring.

“This was a deliberate health care fraud scheme built on lies, bribes, and abuse of the Medicare system,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement Tuesday. “The defendant helped obtain signed doctors’ orders through illegal kickbacks, shipped braces people did not need, and then billed the government for more than $11.4 million in fraudulent claims. He also concealed the true ownership of the company and structured cash withdrawals to hide the proceeds. Yesterday’s sentence of nine years, along with restitution and financial penalties, sends a simple message: fraud does not pay. If you steal from Medicare, you will go to prison and you will be made to pay that money back.”