Psychiatrist Charged with Defrauding Benefits Services, Private Employers to the tune of $1,000,000

A Press Release from the office of the Attorney General for the State of Florida.

Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced the arrest of a Miami-Dade psychiatrist on charges that she defrauded the Florida Medicaid program and several other benefits services out of more than $1 million. Investigators with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit believe Moraima Trujillo was involved in a scheme that defrauded the Florida Medicaid program, the Medicare program, the Veteran’s Administration and several private employers during a year-long period.

“Organized efforts to defraud assistance-oriented programs directly affect the individuals who legitimately rely on those programs,” said Attorney General McCollum. “We must not allow greed and criminal activity to victimize Floridians who may genuinely need the assistance.”

Investigators acted upon information received from the State of Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. A review of documents from Trujillo’s facility revealed that between January and December 2004, Trujillo billed the Medicaid and Medicare programs for the treatment of Medicaid and Medicare recipients at the same time she was supposedly performing similar functions for the Veteran’s Administration and several other employers. Throughout the year 2004, there were 207 days on which Trujillo submitted time reports to several employers and billings to the Medicaid and Medicare programs claiming to have worked between 20 and 40 hours on each day.

Today’s arrest was made by authorities with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the State Attorney’s Office for the 11th Judicial Circuit, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General.

Trujillo is currently being held at the Miami-Dade County jail. She is charged with one count each of grand theft and organized scheme to defraud, both first-degree felonies. If convicted of both charges, she faces up to 60 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit also seized funds from several bank accounts controlled by Trujillo pursuant to the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act. Trujillo will be prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office for the 11th Judicial Circuit.

A copy of Trujillo’s arrest affidavit is available here.