8 indicted in Miami Medicare fraud case

MIAMI, June 24 (UPI) -- An alleged Medicare fraud ring based in Miami defrauded the government program of $30 million by filing false claims for obsolete HIV therapy, officials say.

A 20-count federal indictment unsealed Tuesday indicated FBI agents broke up an eight-person conspiracy that allegedly received Medicare reimbursements using empty storefronts and post office boxes spread across five states, The Miami Herald reported.

"These defendants have taken healthcare fraud to a new level," Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sloman said in a statement. "The breadth and scope of the scheme is different than what we've ever seen before," he added, saying the defendants -- including two who have fled to Cuba -- planned to steal as much as $100 million.

Meanwhile, as many as 40 people have been arrested in another alleged Medicare fraud case, including the chief executive of a Detroit therapeutic clinic, The Detroit Free Press reported.

The newspaper said Bernice Brown, chief executive of Wayne County Therapeutic, yelled to reporters that she had been framed as she was led in handcuffs into the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building in Detroit Wednesday morning.