Five Miami residents arrested in $48M home health Medicare fraud

Five Miami residents were arrested Wednesday on charges of participating in a $48 million home health Medicare fraud scheme.

Charged in a grand jury indictment are: Marianela Martinez, 45; Mireya Amechazurra, 49; Lissett Jo-Moure, 55; Omar Hernandez, 48; and Celia Santovenia, 49.

Each of them faces up to five years in prison on charges of conspiracy to receive health care kickbacks and receiving kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program.

The five defendants allegedly referred patients to Miami agencies in exchange for kickbacks, including Caring Nurse Home Health Care Corp. and Good Quality Home Health Inc.

Previously, Rogelio Rodriguez and Raymond Aday, owners and operators of Caring Nurse and Good Quality, were sentenced to 108 and 51 months in prison, respectively.

The arrests were part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force.