A contractor with the Federal Aviation Administration has admitted he stole more than $1 million through bogus health insurance claims.
Luis Rodriguez, 46, of Bethesda, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in D.C. to one count of health care fraud, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
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“Health care fraud is a growing scourge on our nation,” U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen Jr. said in a statement. “Health care fraud increases the costs of medical care for everyone, and diverts resources away from those who truly need it.”
According to charging documents, Rodriguez, a Spanish national who is in the United States on a work visa while his wife is employed here with the Inter-American Development Bank, submitted more than $1.3 million in phony claims to his wife’s insurance carrier, Cigna.
To obtain the information to create the fake invoices, Rodriguez would made make appointments, then take himself and his two minor children to each health care provider. After he received a bill, he would use that information to create fake bills to Cigna.
From March 2006 through April 2010, Rodriguez submitted 2,800 reimbursement forms, reporting more than 25,000 services such as physical therapy that Rodriguez claimed had been provided to him or his children.
All of those claims were false: None of the claimed services had ever been provided, prosecutors said.
When Rodriguez realized federal authorities were onto his fraud scheme, he devised a plan to throw off investigation.
Rodriguez impersonated a senior bank official named Paul Gagnon and told Cigna that the bank had closed the matter, court documents said. He ordered Cigna to tell the FBI to close the investigation without further action.
Rodriguez left Cigna a phone number to call him back that turned out to be his office at the FAA.
When an undercover FBI agent called the number, Rodriguez answered, “Luis Rodriguez.” The agent asked to speak to Paul Gagnon, Rodriguez paused, then told the caller she had the wrong number.
The agent immediately redialed the number, and this time Rodriguez answered, “Paul Gagnon here.”
Rodriguez is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 25.
The loss to Inter-American Development Bank, which is partially funded by the American taxpayer, was just over $1 million, prosecutors said.
