Final suspect in Medicaid fraud scheme arrested at Orlando airport
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has announced the final arrest in a Medicaid fraud scheme.
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit says Joseph Chacon is the final member of a transportation scheme that defrauded the state's Medicaid program of more than $5 million. He was arrested at Orlando International Airport on April 23.
The attorney general says Chacon and his co-defendants ran a nonemergency medical transportation service that billed Medicaid for thousands of trips that were never provided.
Twenty co-defendants were arrested in October 2023.
Investigators say the ringleader was Jose Enrique Hernandez Fernandez, who owned a company called Sweet Transportation LLC that was contracted to provide nonemergency medical transportation services to Medicaid recipients. A news release states that Hernandez Fernandez and his employees billed Medicaid for thousands of nonexistent trips and inflated mileage on actual trips for at least two years.
Uthmeier said GPS data showed that drivers often submitted claims while at home, on vacation or sometimes from out of state.
'This scheme defrauded Florida taxpayers and diverted resources meant for patients in need,' Uthmeier said in the release. 'With the arrest of the final defendant, justice is catching up to every individual who thought they could exploit the Medicaid system. Under my leadership, we will not tolerate fraud, waste, or abuse—and we will relentlessly pursue those who try to profit at the expense of the people of Florida.'
Chacon, a dual citizen of the United States and Costa Rica, was in Costa Rica when warrants were issued for all of the suspects. The attorney general said the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit coordinated the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but Costa Rican officials declined to extradite Chacon.
Chacon was arrested at the airport when he returned to the United States. He was booked into the Orange County jail on a felony charge of organized scheme to defraud.
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