MIAMI – Anna Nursing was a home health care agency in Hialeah that was promising to provide services to Medicare beneficiaries.
From 2010 to 2013, Medicare paid Anna Nursing about $7 million. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents would later learn the agency was making money off of fraudulent reimbursement claims.
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"Many of the beneficiaries did not actually qualify for or receive such services," said a statement from the office of U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida.
On Wednesday, Armando Buchillo, of Hialeah, was sentenced to 57 months in prison for his involvement in the scheme to defraud the federal government. Buchillo, 42, was the agency's director.
Buchillo paid commission to recruiters who brought in patients -- who were 65 or older, or disabled with Medicare -- into the home. He also falsified documentation to make it appear that the patients qualified for the services billed.
After he was charged May 13, Buchillon plead guilty July 29 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. He was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and fined about $1.9 million in restitution.