Parkland Man Gets 7 Years in Prison For Bilking Elderly Investors

Isaac Grossman

By Kevin Deutsch

A Parkland man who conned elderly investors out of millions of dollars was sentenced Thursday to 87 months in federal prison, according to the Department of Justice.

Isaac Grossman, 47, of Heron Bay, directed an elder fraud scheme in which he sold stock in his South Florida-based technology company to senior citizens across the U.S., then misappropriated their money for his own personal use, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal sentenced Grossman in Fort Lauderdale federal court after Grossman had previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering charges. Grossman had faced up to 50 years in prison for his crimes.

He was also ordered to pay nearly $3 million in restitution, court records show.

Grossman will be credited with about seven months served and must surrender to the federal Bureau of Prisons no later than April 8, according to the records.

From September 2014 through April 2018, Grossman raised around $2.4 million in investor funds for his company, Dragon-Click Corp., by soliciting investments from elderly retirees across the country, prosecutors said.

Grossman’s pitch to investors: Dragon-Click was developing a revolutionary internet application, and they had a chance to get in on the ground floor. He told them the new shopping app would allow users to post a photo of any item they might want to purchase, immediately recognize all retailers who sell the item, and provide price comparisons and links to buy.

Grossman admitted he falsely told investors they would double, triple, or quadruple their money. According to DOJ, he even claimed Dragon-Click was on the verge of being sold to a large technology company like Google, Apple, or Amazon for over $1 billion.

Before raising funds for Dragon-Click, he concealed from investors that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority had permanently barred him from acting as a broker or associating with brokerage firms.

He also hid the fact he had been permanently banned from commodities trading by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

With investors’ money in hand, Grossman spent $1.3 million of his fraudulent gains on gambling, diamond jewelry, luxury cars, home mortgage payments, tuition payments for his children’s private school education, and other personal expenditures, including a McLaren MP4-12C, a Chevrolet Corvette and a 4.81-carat diamond ring, prosecutors said.

In addition to his criminal case, the government also filed a parallel civil enforcement action against Grossman.

Full Article & Source:

Parkland Man Gets 7 Years in Prison For Bilking Elderly Investors 

 

See Also: 

Parkland Man Arrested for Bilking Elderly in Money Laundering Scheme

Owner of Texas Chain of Hospice Companies Sentenced for $150 Million Health Care Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

 

A corporate executive has been ordered to serve 20 years in prison after his conviction related to falsely telling thousands of patients with long-term incurable diseases, such as Alzheimers and dementia, they had less than six months to live and subsequently enrolling them in hospice programs.   

A federal jury in McAllen, Texas, convicted Rodney Mesquias, 48, of San Antonio, Texas. The one-month trial in November 2019 was one of the first criminal hospice fraud prosecutions the Department of Justice has presented to a federal jury.    

Today, U.S. District Court Judge Rolanda Olvera ordered Mesquias to serve a total of 240 months in federal prison and to pay $120 million in restitution.

“Mesquias funded his lavish lifestyle by exploiting patients with long-term, incurable diseases by enrolling them in expensive but unnecessary hospice services,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  “This significant sentence represents the department’s continued commitment to pursue those who orchestrate and commit healthcare fraud schemes.”

“Financial healthcare fraud is abhorrent enough, but to fraudulently diagnose patients with dementia or Alzheimer’s is the pinnacle of medical cruelness to both the patient and their family,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick of the Southern District of Texas. “They falsely gave patients life ending diagnosis and they will pay the price with years behinds bars.”

“Families seek to give comfort and support to their ailing loved ones when all other medical options are gone,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs of the FBI’s San Antonio Division. “It is unconscionable and evil to prey upon the most vulnerable in our community to commit fraud against government-funded programs. The FBI is committed to protecting our communities from those who may not have the strength to protect themselves.”

“Mesquias’ scheme included paying kickbacks to physicians and fraudulently enrolling vulnerable beneficiaries in hospice care that prevented them from accessing curative care – all done to steal millions of dollars from Medicare to fund lavish personal spending,” said Special Agent in Charge Miranda L. Bennett of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Dallas Region. “This victimization is intolerable, and our investigators and law enforcement partners will continue to work hard to bring such criminals to justice and to protect those relying on federal health care programs.”

Mesquias and his co-conspirator Henry McInnis, 48, were both convicted of one count each of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to obstruct justice as well as six counts of health care fraud. Mesquias was separately convicted on one count of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks. 

From 2009 to 2018, Mesquias orchestrated a scheme that involved $150 million in false and fraudulent claims for hospice and other health care services. Mesquias owned and controlled the Merida Group, a large health care company that operated dozens of locations throughout Texas.

According to evidence presented at trial, Mesquias and the Merida Group adopted a strategy to market their hospice programs as providing medical benefits “you don’t have to die to use.” They also aggressively enrolled patients with long-term incurable diseases, such as Alzheimers and dementia, and limited mental capacity who lived at group homes, nursing homes and in housing projects.

In some instances, Merida Group marketers falsely told patients they had less than six months to live and sent chaplains to lie to the patients. They also discussed last rites and preparation for their imminent death.

Hospice services require patients to be suffering from a terminal illness expected to result in death within six months. Not only were patients not in such circumstances, they were walking, driving, working and even coaching athletic sporting events in some instances. However, Mesquias and others kept patients on services for multiple years in order to increase revenue.

Placing patients on such palliative hospice care meant they were unable to obtain medical coverage for curative medical services. 

Mesquias also fired employees who refused to go along with the fraud. He often  directed them not to “[expletive] with his patients or [expletive] with his money” by discharging patients from services. One co-conspirator said with respect to hospice patients “the way you make money is by keeping them alive as long as possible.” This included engaging in surgical and other medical interventions that were designed to extend life through the use of medical technologies, according to trial testimony.

The evidence further established Mesquias obstructed justice by causing the creation of false and fictitious medical records. Further, Mesquias produced them to a federal grand jury in order to attempt to avoid indictment. The records added false diagnostic information, making it appear that patients were dying when, in fact, they were not.

Mesquias also was convicted in connection with laundering the proceeds of the fraud. The jury found they used monies to purchase expensive vehicles such as a Porsche, expensive jewelry, luxury clothing from high-end retailers such as Louis Vuitton, exclusive real estate, season tickets for premium sporting events and a security detail and bottle service at high-end Las Vegas nightclubs. Mesquias also treated physicians to lavish parties at these elite nightclubs, providing them with tens of thousands of dollars in alcohol and other perks in exchange for medically unnecessary patient referrals.

McInnis will be sentenced at a later date. Two other co-conspirators have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

The Department of Health and Human Service – Office of Inspector General (DHHS-OIG); FBI and Texas Health and Human Services Commission conducted the investigation. Assistant Chief Jacob Foster and Trial Attorney Kevin Lowell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Swartz of the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case. 

The Fraud Section leads the Health Care Fraud Strike Force. Since its inception in March 2007, the Health Care Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 15 strike forces operating in 24 districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for nearly $19 billion. In addition, DHHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the DHHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

Full Article & Source:

Owner of Texas Chain of Hospice Companies Sentenced for $150 Million Health Care Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme

Parkland Man Arrested for Bilking Elderly in Money Laundering Scheme

Isaac Grossman

By: Saraana Jamraj

A Parkland man has been arrested and accused of orchestrating a sizeable money-laundering scheme that involved defrauding elderly victims with promises of quadrupling their money.

In a joint effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Security and Exchange Committee, and the U.S. Attorney’s office, Heron Bay resident, Isaac Grossman, 45, was investigated and indicted on the charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering.

Grossman ran a company called Dragon-Click Corp, a South Florida-based technology company, which he allegedly used to target the elderly to pull off an array of financial crimes.

According to the indictment by U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office,  Grossman spent at least $1.3 million of investors’ money on gambling, diamond jewelry, luxury cars, tuition payments for his children’s private education, and other personal expenditures.

Some of the larger purchases made include $35,000 of investors’ funds on a 4.81-carat diamond ring, $21,200 for a lease payment on a McLaren MP4-12C, $36,500 to purchase a Chevrolet Corvette, and $34,500 to partially pay off his home mortgage.

In the alleged scheme, Grossman sought elderly retired investors across the country to invest in his business. To attract potential investors, he told them about a revolutionary new shopping app that would allow users to post a photo of any item they might want to purchase, and immediately recognize all retailers who also sell the item, as well as provide price comparisons and links to purchase.

The product he described bares some similarity to Google Lens, an existing app that can contextualize photos users submit, providing them with identification information about it.

To further solicit them, Grossman allegedly told investors that his company would be sold to larger corporations, such as Google, Apple, or Amazon, for more than one billion dollars and that their money could even be quadrupled. 

From September 2014 to April 2018, with at least 26 investors, Grossman was able to raise approximately $2.4 million.

Isaac and his wife, Adriana Grossman.

Instead of using the money for an internet application, patent, legal fees to close that supposed billion dollar sale, or any other legitimate business purposes, Grossman allegedly used that money to provide and maintain a lavish, luxurious lifestyle for him and his wife, Adriana.

This was not Grossman’s first brush with the law.  After entering the financial securities sector in 1997, he faced regulatory reprimand and consequences in 2012.

In addition to misusing investors’ money, Grossman also fraudulently concealed this fact from investors that he was permanently banned from acting as a broker by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and banned from trading the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He also owed them over $121,000 fines.

Grossman and his wife were also hit with a civil lawsuit by the SEC in June of 2018, where their financial crimes were further detailed, including an alleged $426,000 of investors’ funds used solely on gambling. Adriana was alleged to have spent at least $293,000 of investors’ money between 2014 and 2016.  Their LLC, Dragon Management, was organized by her, and she was listed as the sole signor, likely so they could do business under her name.

Isaac Grossman was arrested on October 11 and faces a minimum of 20 years for each fraud charge, and 10 years for each money laundering charge.

Full Article & Source:
Parkland Man Arrested for Bilking Elderly in Money Laundering Scheme