Home health agency owner sentenced in $8.6 million fraud scheme

The owner of a Miami-based home health care services company has been sentenced to prison for his role in an $8.6 million health care fraud scheme, according to a Feb. 27 release from the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

 

Alexander Ros Lazo (Ros Lazo), the owner of T.L.C. Health Services of Miami, was sentenced to 87 months in prison.

 

Meanwhile, Misleady Ibarra, who performed home health therapy services without a license, was sentenced to 24 months in prison, the DOJ release states. 

"As part of his guilty plea, Ros Lazo admitted that he paid kickbacks and bribes to his co-conspirators in exchange for home health services prescriptions and the referral of Medicare beneficiaries to T.L.C. Health Services," the release states. "He further admitted that he and Ibarra agreed with their co-conspirators to commit health care fraud by billing Medicare for physical therapy services performed by Ibarra on behalf of licensed therapists despite knowing that she was not licensed to render those services to the Medicare beneficiaries. Ros Lazo admitted that as a result of the fraudulent claims, Medicare paid $8.6 million in benefits that it otherwise would not have. As part of her guilty plea, Ibarra admitted to conspiring with Ros Lazo to commit health care fraud by rendering home health therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries when Ibarra was not licensed to provide these services."