Milford Man Sentenced for Stealing from Medicaid

Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin announced that the Honorable Thomas V. O’Keefe, Jr. today sentenced Julian Cano, age 43, of Milford, to three years in prison, execution of that time suspended, with five years of conditional discharge for stealing from the Medicaid program by submitting fraudulent claims for work he did not perform and billing for more expensive services then his patients received.

The defendant was sentenced in Meriden Superior Court on one count of Health Insurance Fraud, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53-442, a class B felony. The defendant was ordered not to act as a provider for the Medicaid program and not to perform services that bill the Medicaid program. Cano also paid $123,087.10 in restitution.

By being found guilty of a program-related felony, the defendant also is subject to mandatory exclusion as a health care provider to certain federally funded health programs pursuant to federal and state laws and regulations. Medicaid is a government program that provides health coverage to low-income, disabled and elderly individuals, and is financed by both the federal and state governments and administered by the Connecticut Department of Social Services.

Cano was arrested on June 30, 2025, by Inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, between January 2022 and November 2024, Cano, an acupuncturist, was the owner of Julian Cano, LLC. Cano was enrolled as a provider for the Connecticut Medicaid Program. During this time, he billed for services not provided, as well as submitted billing codes for more expensive services than the ones patients actually received. After speaking to 27 of Cano’s identified 134 Medicaid patients, the Inspectors identified fraudulent billings in the amount of $123,087.10, for 24 of the patients interviewed.

The case was investigated by and prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The Unit is grateful for the assistance it received in the investigation from the Connecticut Department of Social Services – Office of Quality Assurance, the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General, and the Meriden Police Department.

The Connecticut Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,612,588.00 for the fiscal year of October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $870,858.00 for the same fiscal year, is funded by the State of Connecticut.

Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney at (860) 258-5986.

A Florida nursing assistant was sentenced yesterday to nine years in prison and two years of supervised release for his role in an $11.4 million health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy in which hundreds of Medicare beneficiaries were sent thousands of orthotic braces they did not need. Cruz was also ordered to pay $3,712,345.70 in restitution and $724,871 in forfeiture.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Christian “Chris” Cruz, 45, of Pompano Beach, Florida, owned and operated a durable medical equipment (DME) supplier based in Florida through which he submitted millions of dollars in false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary orthotic braces.

Cruz and his co-conspirator paid illegal kickbacks and bribes to obtain signed doctors’ orders. They used these orders to ship orthotic braces to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide and then claim payment from Medicare, including to beneficiaries who neither requested nor needed the braces. Cruz lied to Medicare, claiming that he was the sole owner and operator of the company, when in fact he shared ownership in the company with his co-conspirator, a convicted felon. Medicare would not have allowed the company to enroll with Medicare if it had known about Cruz’s co-conspirator. The co-conspirator has been charged but remains at large.

Cruz received several hundred thousand dollars to his personal bank account from the fraudulent scheme that he frequently withdrew in cash on consecutive days at different bank branches in South Florida, often in amounts just under the bank reporting threshold of $10,000.

“Medical professionals have a trusted role in American society, and when they betray that trust and engage in fraud, the Justice Department will hold them fully accountable,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division.

“This was a deliberate health care fraud scheme built on lies, bribes, and abuse of the Medicare system,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “The defendant helped obtain signed doctors’ orders through illegal kickbacks, shipped braces people did not need, and then billed the government for more than $11.4 million in fraudulent claims. He also concealed the true ownership of the company and structured cash withdrawals to hide the proceeds. Yesterday’s sentence of nine years, along with restitution and financial penalties, sends a simple message: fraud does not pay. If you steal from Medicare, you will go to prison and you will be made to pay that money back.”

“By misusing Medicare beneficiaries’ information to enrich himself, this defendant betrayed the trust placed in health care providers,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert of The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS‑OIG). “This sentence demonstrates how the strength of HHS-OIG partnerships with fellow law enforcement agencies allows us to successfully detect and disrupt such complex health care fraud schemes and reinforces that those who attempt to exploit federal health care programs will face serious consequences.”

After a six-day trial in January 2026, a federal jury convicted Cruz of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, four counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make false statements relating to health care matters and three counts of structuring.

FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Owen Dunn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Sterling Paulson for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

The owner of a McDuffie County behavioral therapy service faces up to 10 years in federal prison and substantial financial penalties after pleading guilty to submitting fraudulent insurance reimbursement claims.

Mira Stallings, 41, of Thomson, Georgia, pled guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of Health Care Fraud, said Margaret E. “Meg” Heap, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The plea subjects Stallings to a statutory sentence of up to 10 years in prison, payment of restitution and fines, and up to three years of supervised release upon completion of any prison term.

There is no parole in the federal system.

“Our health insurance programs, particularly those that provide benefits to our military servicemembers and their dependents, are vital to those who need assistance for medical treatment,” said U.S. Attorney Heap. “With our law enforcement partners, we will aggressively pursue those who fraudulently access those funds for their own personal gain.”

As described in court documents and testimony, Stallings is a licensed behavioral therapist and owner of ABAscape LLC, a Thomson, Georgia, agency that provided behavioral therapy services to individuals with developmental disabilities. A parent of patients who received services from ABscape reported concerns about billing discrepancies to TRICARE, the health care and insurance program serving active duty servicemembers and their families.

The resulting investigation determined that from June 2020 through May 2023, Stallings submitted false and fraudulent billing claims to TRICARE for individual and group therapy services that were not provided, or were not provided as presented. The investigation determined that the fraudulent billing for more than $652,000 resulted in TRICARE payments of more than $572,000.

In addition, Stallings, through ABAscape, applied for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, under the guise of seeking funding for working capital to alleviate economic injury from the COVID-19 pandemic. She received nearly $1 million, and while certifying in her application that the funds would not be used for personal or household purposes, Stallings instead spent tens of thousands of dollars on personal credit card debts and to a debt collector, salary payments to a family member for fraudulent services, personal purchases from online vendors and retail stores, and nearly $50,000 for the construction of a dog-breeding compound.

“The reach of this investigation extends beyond healthcare into the deliberate manipulation of federal programs designed to support honest small businesses,” said Special Agent-in-Charge, Jason J. Sargenski, Defense Criminal Investigative Service Southeast Field Office. “By allegedly utilizing wire fraud to siphon resources from the Small Business Administration while simultaneously defrauding TRICARE, the defendant demonstrated a pattern of deceit that harms both the taxpayer and the integrity of our nation’s essential support systems. We remain dedicated to following the trail of fraud wherever it leads to ensure those who prioritize personal greed over public service are held fully accountable.”

U.S. District Court Judge J. Randall Hall will schedule sentencing for Stallings after U.S. Probation Services submits a presentencing investigation report.

The case was investigated by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and prosecuted for the United States of America by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patricia G. Rhodes and Jennifer S. Thompson.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston sentenced Felipe Ruiz, 52, of Fresno, and Jose Gabriel Aguirre, 53, of Clovis, to 63 months in prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced. Judge Thurston also ordered forfeiture of nine properties owned by Aguirre and Ruiz, as well as a $2.6 million personal forfeiture money judgement against Aguirre and a $12.1 million personal forfeiture money judgement against Ruiz.

“We trust licensed medical professionals to safeguard their patients and not hand them over to unqualified individuals,” said U.S. Attorney Grant. “This podiatrist put profit over patient safety by allowing a salesman to perform medical procedures on vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries. Today’s outcome underscores our commitment to holding providers accountable when they abuse that trust and bill federal health care programs for services that violate the most basic standards of care.”

“Health care fraud schemes don’t just drain taxpayer-funded programs, they also put patients directly at risk,” said FBI Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel. “The FBI will continue working alongside HHS-OIG and our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute those who treat public trust as an opportunity for personal profit.”

“By allowing an unlicensed and unqualified sales representative to perform medical procedures – including sharp wound debridement – on Medicare and Medi-Cal enrollees, Dr. Ruiz abandoned his professional responsibilities and violated the trust his patients placed in him,” said Special Agent in Charge Robb R. Breeden of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS‑OIG). “Fueled by greed, Dr. Ruiz’s scheme exposed his patients to serious risk and undermined the integrity of federal health care programs. As today’s sentences demonstrate, HHS‑OIG and our law enforcement partners will continue to hold those who put profits above patients accountable for their actions.”

According to court documents, Ruiz was a podiatrist and the sole owner of West Coast Podiatry Inc. (WCP), a podiatric medical practice with locations in Fresno, Madera, and Stanislaus Counties. Aguirre was a pharmaceutical sales representative who sold skin grafts to Ruiz and WCP. Aguirre was not licensed to practice medicine.

Between June 2021 and January 2024, Ruiz purchased skin grafts from Aguirre and permitted Aguirre to apply skin grafts and perform other medical procedures on patients suffering from severe wounds, including foot amputations. Application of the skin grafts required sharp debridement, which means using a scalpel to scrape the wound until it bleeds. Some patients believed Aguirre was a physician, referring to him as “Dr. Gabe.” Aguirre would perform medical procedures alone without supervision from a trained physician.

Ruiz and Aguirre submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and Medi-Cal that falsely represented that Ruiz and other physicians had performed the medical procedures, such as applying skin grafts to patients, when Aguirre had actually rendered the services.

In one example, WCP submitted $150,000 in claims to Medicare in 2023, claiming a physician performed the procedures, when in fact the physician was out of the country on vacation. In another example, Aguirre cut into patients with recently amputated feet with a scalpel and apply skin grafts without a physician’s supervision. Ruiz knew about Aguirre’s conduct and dismissed staff’s concerns about Aguirre.

Throughout the period, staff and third-party auditors raised concerns about Ruiz and Aguirre’s billing practices. The two ignored those warnings and continued to bill Medicare and Medicaid for services performed by Aguirre.

As a result, Ruiz submitted approximately $3,200,000 in false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and Medi-Cal between 2021 and 2024.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brittany M. Gunter and Cody S. Chapple prosecuted the case.

A Slidell doctor was sentenced on Thursday, April 9, for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.

According to the Eastern District of Louisiana, 67-year-old Robert Tassin, from February to September of 2019, signed doctor’s orders for Cancer Genomic Testing, or CGx tests, for Medicare beneficiaries he never saw, spoke to or otherwise treated. He did this through several telemedicine companies he purportedly worked for. As a result, Tassin’s orders resulted in over $6.6 million in false and fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare, of which Medicare reimbursed $2 million.

To conceal and perpetuate the fraud, Tassin made several false and fraudulent statements in support of the orders he submitted, including falsely certifying medical records that the CGx tests were medically necessary for the patients’ treatment. In exchange for electronically reviewing the patient charts and ordering CGx tests, Tassin was paid a set fee per doctor’s order, typically $30.

Tassin was sentenced to three years of probation, with the first 12 months to be served in home confinement, and a ban on participating in a healthcare business during probation without prior approval from United States Probation. Tassin was also ordered to pay restitution of $2,043,542.23 to Medicare, $106,757 in forfeiture and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.