‘He was almost dead.’ $350,000 fraud investigation found Miami man, 84, in squalor
The Miami Medicare fraud being investigated was basic, according to U.S. Health and Human Services. What agents found in Miami’s Liberty City area Friday night was not.
HHS-Office of the Inspector General spokesperson Yvonne Gamble said an 84-year-old man whose name and signature have been used to help perpetrate a $350,000 fraud was found living in squalor behind a Miami home. He was in the secondary living space commonly and colloquially called the “mother-in-law house.”
The Herald found Saturday afternoon that the home was in the Liberty City area.
“It’s a first for me,” HHS-OIG Assistant Special Agent In Charge Stephen Mahmood said. “I was personally disgusted by it. It makes the perpetrators all the more disgusting. I don’t know how they live. He was almost dead and no one cares about him.”
Gamble said the octogenarian was taken to a hospital for treatment and “We hope that someone who knows the man or has any information regarding the businesses associated with the fraud scheme will reach out to HHS-OIG.”
Gamble said HHS-OIG couldn’t confirm if the man’s name was “Juan Seoane.” But she confirmed that the man agents found is connected to the four companies below, each of which has “Juan Seoane” as its lone officer on state registration papers:
▪ Artic Medical Supplies, Inc., registered with the state June 11, 2021 by Alberto Malave, using 11098 Biscayne Blvd., Suite No. 401-2. Malave was dropped and “Juan Seoane” was added as the lone officer on Oct. 19.
▪ Full Management Group, LLC, registered with the state Oct. 18 by “Juan Seoane” using the same Biscayne Boulevard address as Artic, but switched to 7900 Oak Ln., Suite 400, a commercial office building in Miami Lakes on Dec. 16.
▪ South Service Enterprise, LLC, registered with the state Oct. 18 by “Juan Seoane,” using the same Biscayne Boulevard address as Artic. On Oct. 26, the address was switched to 1421 SW 107th Ave., a West Miami-Dade strip mall with a UPS store;
▪ Green Dade Transport, LLC., registered with the state Oct. 18 by “Juan Seoane” using the same Biscayne Boulevard address as Artic then being switched on Oct. 26 to 11455 SW 40th St., another West Miami-Dade strip mall with a UPS store.
The “Juan Seoane” signature on the state documents is a scribble that could be read as a cursive capital “J.”
Same scheme, different durable medical equipment
Most durable medical equipment (DME) healthcare fraud involves things like knee and back braces, but this one, Mahmood said, involved collagen dressing.
“It’s the next step after orthotics,” he said. “Not that orthotics have gone away.”
Otherwise, the scheme is the same. Shell companies are set up with straw owners who might or might not be part of the scheme. The companies bill Medicare for DMEs that are unnecessary or never delivered to people whose names might be getting used fraudulently. Sometimes, a few doctors will be involved to devote their signatures to prescriptions for DMEs, providing another layer of cover.
Mahmood said this scheme, so far, had tried to bill Medicare $650,000 and had received $350,000 of that.
Anyone who knows anything about Juan Seoane or the above companies can reach out to Health and Human Services-Office of the Inspector General at 800-447-8477 (TIPS) or via the website.
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