According to an Oct. 27 news release from the Justice Department, Arisleidys Fernandez Delmas, a Miami resident, was sentenced to 104 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $8.7 million in restitution. Ms. Delmas pleaded guilty to her role in a $36 million scheme to bill Blue Cross Blue Shield for physical therapy services never provided.
Ms. Delmas and co-conspirators paid kickbacks to employees at JetBlue Airways, AT&T and TJX Companies, who received insurance benefits through BCBS, to be patients at 30 South Florida physical therapy clinics. Co-conspirators who owned the clinics then billed BCBS for medically unnecessary services or services not provided to these patients. The defendants also paid kickbacks to licensed massage therapists to serve as nominee owners of the clinics, allowing them to skirt some medical licensing requirements.
In addition to Ms. Delmas, 14 others were indicted in the scheme, and 11 have pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme. Of those, nine have been sentenced to prison time ranging between six months and seven years. Ms. Delmas received the longest prison sentence of any defendant sentenced so far.
