Marguerite Jeanette Garcia, the owner of Orthopedic Specialists DME, Corpus Christi, Texas, and her husband, Eleazar “Eli” Garcia, have been convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud by submitting false or fraudulent Medicare claims. They were also each convicted of 12 counts of healthcare fraud. They face up to ten years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
According to their indictment, Texas law requires that orthotic care facilities have a licensed orthotist on-site, and though Eli Garcia had taken the test to become an LO five times, he had failed each time. The Texas board of orthotics and prosthetics stopped renewing the company’s state facility accreditation in 2002 because the site lacked an LO, and the company lost its Medicare provider number soon thereafter.
Prosecutors alleged that the Garcias then enlisted John D. Martinez, CO, LO, of San Antonio, Texas, and his brother, Frank D. Martinez, LO, to help them. The Martinez brothers agreed to be falsely listed as the facility’s on-site LOs so the company could regain accreditation. In return, the Martinezes received kickbacks of $643,000 out of the $800,530 that the Garcias took in between February 2002 and December 2008 for unlicensed orthotic care provided by Eli Garcia.
The jury acquitted Frank Martinez on all counts but found John Martinez guilty on six counts of healthcare fraud, according to the Express-News, a San Antonio, newspaper.
