Tuesday, November 9, 2010

FL: Medicare Money Paid for Posh Life

Lawrence Duran and Marianella Valera loved spending taxpayers' money.

So much so, that the $84 million Medicare paid their Miami-based chain of mental health clinics for bogus therapy is practically gone, authorities say.

"As of right now, we can only locate $150,000'' in the couple's bank accounts, Justice Department attorney Jennifer Saulino said in Miami federal court Thursday.

So, where did all the money go?

It was spent on hefty salaries, foreign cars, fancy jewelry, international travel, a bayfront condo, even tuition for Duran's children at Belen Jesuit Preparatory School and Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory, court records show.

Prosecutors said the defendants, charged with bilking the taxpayer-funded Medicare program, have 'dissipated" $77 million in government payments.

Full Article and Source:
Medicare Money Paid for Posh Life

4 comments:

Thelma said...

Why is government so damn incompetent? There has to be a simple method for stopping these scams.

Thelma said...

The lawyer attempts to defend his thefts by saying the feds didn't audit? That's not so funny. That's what everyone interested in the subject matter has been saying for years - not specifically about the feds, but about every state-court guardianship and conservatorship operation in the country! It ain't just federal Medicare that's being robbed. Actually, it's the American taxpayer, on state and fed scams.

Holly said...

Florida is abundant with elder scams. I can assure you it is not even safe to travel through the state of Florida, "The Sunshine State," with an elderly parent. There are many criminals who prey on the vulnerable in "florida."
My mother who is a resident and domiciliar of Pennsylvania went with my sister to visit in Florida. While there she fell prey to a professional guardian/thief, Jetta Getty of Port Orange Florida.
Jetta Getty is the owner of Young at Heart Elderly Services. She also has herself positioned to be used as part of an examining committee to advise the Volusia County Court of ones capacity which surely seems like a conflict of interest!
Jetta Getty has held my mother criminally confined, against mothers will and the will of our family for three + yrs. now.
As an officer of the Volusia County Court, Getty was obligated to report to the judge McFerrin Smith that Rita Denmark was not a resident of Florida but as it ended up, it appears no one told McFerrin Smith including four attorneys who were all involved. Consequently the 4 attorneys have now been paid approximately $150,000 of mothers estate and Jetta Getty is anxiously awaiting about $30,000 more for herself!
Without court oversight & Federal intervention as you can see by the above, if these attorneys and court appointed guardians had told the truth, they would have not been paid mothers estate.
It's all about the money!!
No one gives a rats rear end about my mother except her family whom Getty has filled the court record with lies about!
Want facts to back it up contact me at hlpeffer@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

What amazes me is Medicare denies benefits to the little guy and while they're doing that, some jerk is over somewhere else ripping Medicare off.

Medicare is a great benefit, but there's so much fraud.