LawFuel – Legal Newswire – 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 B. Dennis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, Miami Regional Office, announced today that defendant Darvis Lazaro Leal, 30, of Havana, Cuba, appeared in federal court today before Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres, and was ordered detained pending trial based on risk of flight. Leal was previously indicted on five counts of health care fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1347.
According to the Indictment, defendant Leal controlled and operated RR Pharmacy, Inc. (“RR Pharmacy”), a DME company located at 3750 West 16th Avenue, Suite 100, Miami, FL. From June 15, 2006 through September 16, 2004, Leal is alleged to have caused the submission of approximately $425,000 false claims to Medicare on behalf of RR Pharmacy, seeking reimbursement for the cost of DME items and services that were not prescribed by doctors and not provided as claimed.
According to evidence adduced at today’s detention hearing, defendant Leal departed Miami for Cuba via Costa Rica in September 2006, while the federal health care fraud investigation into RR Pharmacy was pending. Thereafter, Leal, then residing in Havana, frequently traveled between Costa Rica and Cuba as a self-employed clothes salesman.
On January 29, 2009, Leal was arrested at Miami International Airport pursuant to an outstanding arrest warrant, which had been issued under seal following his Indictment in Case No. 08-20583-Cr-Moreno. At that time, Leal had traveled from Cuba, to Costa Rica, to the Miami.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States 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.
