11 months ago
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FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Two men from Fresno County were charged Thursday for conspiracy to perpetrate wellness attraction fraud, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
The DOJ reported that a national expansive assemblage returned a one-count indictment against 51-year-old Felipe Ruiz of Fresno and 52-year-old Jose Gabriel Aguirre of Clovis.
According to tribunal documents, Ruiz was a podiatrist astatine a podiatric aesculapian signifier with locations successful Fresno, Madera and Stanislaus counties.
Aguirre was a income typical for respective companies that sold tegument grafts, the DOJ said. It was reported by the DOJ that Aguirre utilized his ain name, his wife's name, and the sanction of the corp registered to his woman to merchantability the tegument grafts.
Between June 2021 and January 2023, Ruiz purchased tegument grafts from Aguirre and permitted Aguirre to use the tegument grafts to Medicare and Medi-Cal beneficiaries without Ruiz being present. According to the DOJ, Aguirre is not a licensed wellness attraction provider.
The DOJ reported Ruiz and Aguirre besides allowed beneficiaries to notation to Aguirre arsenic "Dr. Gabe," adjacent though helium was not a doctor.
Ruiz and Aguirre subsequently submitted claims to Medicare and Medi-Cal that falsely represented that Ruiz had applied the tegument grafts to the beneficiaries, erstwhile Aguirre had really rendered the services, the DOJ said.
As a result, the DOJ said Ruiz and Aguirre were paid millions of dollars from Medicare and Medi-Cal for the mendacious claims.
According to the DOJ, Ruiz and Aguirre look a maximum punishment of 10 years successful situation and a $250,000 cardinal fine.
