Fla. couple get prison for Medicare fraud

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MIAMI, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- A Florida couple have been ordered to federal prison for a $45 million Medicare scam.

Luis Alejandro Sanz, 58, was given a 10-year term and his wife Elizabeth Acosta Sanz, 45, received a nine-year term Friday in U.S. District Court in Miami.

Federal authorities said Luis Sanz, who had served time for drug trafficking, started a home healthcare company in the Miami-Dade area, Ideal Home Health, with his wife as the figurehead owner to shield himself from authorities.

Colluding with patients, they fraudulently billed Medicare $45 million for nursing services for homebound diabetic patients, taking in $30 million in taxpayer dollars.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said the couple made a "mockery" of the program, The Miami Herald reported.

The Sanzes pleaded guilty this year and their cooperation with investigators has produced 25 fraud convictions, with further indictments expected, the Herald said.