Three Broward County men will serve federal prison terms for their involvement in a Medicare fraud and money laundering scheme.
Marco Scamarone, 34, of Tamarac; Jose Mendez, 34, of Coral Springs; and Renee Vazquez, 33, of Tamarac, entered agreements in December and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Mendez was sentenced in April to six-and-a-half years, and Scamarone was sentenced earlier this month to just under six years, federal court records show. Vazquez was sentenced Wednesday to five years.
The men conspired to defraud Medicare by submitting millions of dollars worth of fraudulent claims for orthotic braces that were medically unnecessary and received payments for the medical equipment into the bank accounts of two medical equipment companies they controlled — Stone Oak Durable Medical Equipment based in Broward and Braces and Orthotics, LLC, based in Virginia, according to factual proffers in their cases, the facts agreed on by the government and defense.
Mendez was a beneficial owner of Braces and Orthotics and had control over the company’s account. He recruited another person to be listed as the sole owner of record for the company on official forms to hide his involvement in the company, the factual proffer said. Similarly, he was also a beneficial owner of Stone Oak, the Broward company, but identified Vazquez on official documents as the only owner.
The two companies submitted a total of $6.9 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for unnecessary orthotic braces that they procured through illegal kickbacks and bribes, the court record said. Medicare paid about $3 million of the claims, and the payments were deposited into Stone Oak’s and the Virginia company’s accounts.
Mendez had Vazquez transfer payments to shell company accounts that were controlled by Mendez and co-conspirators, and much of those transfers were withdrawn in cash or used for Mendez personally, including mortgage payments on Mendez’s Coral Springs home and for his car payments, the court document said. Mendez directed the laundering of more than $2.2 million from the Medicare payments.
Scamarone was also a beneficial owner of Braces and Orthotics and Stone Oak and had instructed another person to form MR. JJ Management Services LLC, a company based in Broward, which Scamarone then used to pay kickbacks and bribes to an offshore marketing company that referred beneficiaries and doctors’ orders, a factual proffer in his case said. The marketing company’s call center persuaded beneficiaries to agree to accept the medically unnecessary braces.
Scamarone and Vazquez went together to make in-person withdrawals or transfers at banks involving the fraudulent payments multiple times, the court document said. Some transactions were large transfers to the shell companies Mendez controlled, as well as to shell companies Scamarone controlled, including one called Southflo Services LLC.
Vazquez had been recruited by Scamarone and Mendez to be listed as the owner of record for Stone Oak and the sole signatory on the corporate bank account, according to a factual proffer in his case. Through Stone Oak’s account, he facilitated the laundering of more than $1.7 million of the Medicare payments.
All three men will be on supervised release for three years following their sentences.
At their sentencing hearings, Scamarone and Mendez were ordered to pay $2.2 million in forfeiture and $3 million in restitution, federal prosecutors said in a news release Thursday. Vazquez was ordered to pay $1.7 million in forfeiture and $2.2 million in restitution.