New Mexico man guilty in Arizona Medicaid billing scheme
PHOENIX — The conviction of the operator of a New Mexico medical transportation company marks the latest incident of health care fraud involving false billings by transport companies to Arizona's Medicaid program.
Farmington resident Cory Werito pleaded guilty Thursday in a federal court in Albuquerque in a case involving fraudulent billings to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System through his medical transportation company.
A statement from the U.S. attorney's office in New Mexico said Werito and his co-defendant, Rosita Toledo, created and ran CW Transport, which provided non-emergency medical transport to Arizona Medicaid recipients. Together they were charged with nine counts of health care fraud, and Werito faced an additional charge of aggravated currency structuring. They were accused of submitting more than 18,000 claims for reimbursement between 2011 and 2013, most of them completely or substantially false, and defrauding the state's Medicaid program of nearly $2 million.
Werito signed a plea agreement Thursday that carries a maximum 10 year sentence and requires him to repay more than $1.2 million.
Read more: http://tucson.com/ap/state/new-mexico-man-guilty-in-arizona-medicaid-billing-scheme/article_bddbea06-d2a9-5f52-a7ee-303bed4bf1a1.html
