The United States Attorney's Office U.S. Department of Justice HEALTH CARE FRAUD FUGITIVE CAPTURED COMING INTO UNITED STATES FROM CUBAMarch 13, 2009 R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Christopher Dennis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations, announced today that federal authorities arrested defendant Rolando Sanchez Valle, age 35 of Hialeah Gardens, Florida. Sanchez Valle was arrested at Miami International Airport en route from Cuba pursuant to an outstanding arrest warrant issued in Case No. 08-20835-Cr-Middlebrooks following his indictment on September 18, 2008. Sanchez Valle was wanted on five counts of health care fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1347. United States Magistrate Court Judge Stephen T. Brown held Sanchez Valle in custody pending a hearing scheduled for March 20, 2009, based upon the government’s representation that the defendant was a risk of flight who warranted detention pending trial. According to the indictment, from March 16, 2007, through February 11, 2008, defendant Sanchez Valle controlled and operated Professional Choice, Inc. (hereinafter, “Professional Choice”) that purportedly did business in Miami-Dade County providing durable medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries. Professional Choice’s place of business was located at 2711 SW 137th Ave, Suite 97, Miami, Florida. From March 27, 2007, through August 17, 2007, Sanchez Valle caused the submission of numerous false and fraudulent claims to Medicare on behalf of Professional Choice, in an approximate amount of $5,448,294 seeking reimbursement for the cost of DME items and services that were not prescribed by doctors or provided as claimed. As a result of the submission of these claims, Sanchez Valle caused Medicare to make payments to Professional Choice in the approximate amount of $522,531. Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General. This case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher J. Clark. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov. |