Miami sentencing adds to prison toll from major mental health fraud scheme

Yet another healthcare worker was sentenced Monday in connection with a $200 million fraud scheme that the government has called one of the largest in U.S. history.

Licensed nursing assistant Rodolfo Santaya was sentenced in Miami to 150 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $18.2 million in restitution in connection with a Miami mental health company accused of fraudulently billing Medicare, according to the Justice Department.

A federal jury in July convicted Santaya of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive bribes and kickbacks and two counts of receipt of bribes and kickbacks in connection with a federal healthcare program.

Santaya's lawyer, Alfredo A. Izaguirre, declined to comment on the sentencing or allegations Tuesday, saying only that Santaya plans to appeal.

More than 20 individuals already have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial in connection with allegedly fraudulent billings by Miami mental health company American Therapeutic Corporation, which operated partial hospitalization programs to treat severe mental illness in seven locations.

Evidence at trial showed that Santaya reaped thousands of dollars a month in cash kickbacks for referring Medicare beneficiaries to the company, including those who did not need, qualify for or receive the treatment, according to the Department of Justice. Medical professionals, including doctors, fabricated and signed fraudulent medical documentation and patient files to justify the billings, according to the Justice Department.

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