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Crime & Safety

Bethesda Man Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Submitting False Health Care Claims

Luis Rodriguez is expected to be deported once sentence is served.

 

Bethesda’s Luis Rodriguez, a 47-year-old contractor with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), was sentenced yesterday to a 46-month prison term for filing more than $1 million worth of false health care claims, according to an article on LoanSafe’s website.

Sourcing the FBI, the article stated that in the four year period between March 2006 and April 2010, Rodriguez sent Cigna almost 900 reimbursement claim forms for 25,000 services for himself or his two minor children, totaling more than $1.3 million. The fraud was discovered in enough time to stop payment on some checks.

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Referring to a to a statement of offense signed by the defendant as well as the government, the article describes Rodriguez as “a Spanish national who is in the United States on a G-4 work visa, due to his wife’s employment with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).” The IDB provides its employees and their eligible dependents with health care coverage administered by Cigna.

In June, Rodriguez pled guilty to one count of health care fraud. As part of his sentencing, Rodriguez will be placed on three years of supervised release and is expected to be deported after serving the 46 months. Rodriguez was also ordered to pay $1,014,475 in restitution.

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The article also states that Rodriguez devised a plan to “obstruct the federal investigation” by attempting to “impersonate a senior IDB official” and ordering CIGNA “to tell the FBI to close the investigation without further action.”

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