WASHINGTON – A Miami-area patient broker was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for recruiting Medicare beneficiaries as part of a $200 million Medicare fraud scheme, the Department of Justice, FBI and Department of Health and Human Services announced.
Jean-Luc Veraguas, 51, of Plantation, Fla., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Frederico A. Moreno in the Southern District of Florida. In addition to his prison term, Veraguas was ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution, jointly and severally with other co-conspirators.
On May 30, 2012, Veraguas pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Veraguas admitted to serving as a patient broker for American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC) and other health care agencies. ATC operated purported partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) in seven different locations throughout South Florida and Orlando. A PHP is a form of intensive treatment for severe mental illness.
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