Repeat offender sentenced for laundering cash from Medicare fraud schemes

FLORIDA – A Florida man on supervised release from prison for money laundering has been sentenced after pleading guilty to current money laundering charges.

Carlos Alberto Padron, Age 55, of Miami, who was previously convicted of money laundering, was sentenced to a total of 90 months in federal prison for his recent money laundering conviction.

According to the court docket, Padron pled guilty to money laundering on June 20, 2023. According to the agreed-upon factual proffer that was made part of the court docket, Padron participated in two separate money laundering conspiracies while on supervised release from a prior federal prison sentence.

Between July 2022 and August 2022, Padron and his co-defendant, Ovidio Gonzalez Roche, laundered $249,901 in Medicare fraud proceeds related to two fraudulent durable medical equipment companies located in Pompano Beach, Florida, Newtech Medical Supply LLC and Spraig Medical Supplies LLC.

Padron and his co-defendant Ovidio Gonzalez Roche, picked up nearly $229,920 in cash in parking lots in Miami-Dade County after the money was laundered, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO).

According to the USAO, between April 2021 and December 2021, Padron also participated in laundering $2,185,392 in Medicare fraud proceeds related to two other durable medical equipment companies:  Unlimited Medical Supply (Pembroke Pines, Florida) and Best Medical Supply (North Fort Myers, Florida).

Padron was involved in managing the nominee owner of those two DME companies, and he also received some of the approximately $260,000 in withdrawals of Medicare fraud proceeds from the nominee owner.

U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga sentenced Padron to 70 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release to be served consecutively to his sentence on the supervised release violation.

Padron was also ordered to pay $2,435,293 in restitution. On June 7, 2023, U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez sentenced Padron to 20 months in prison for the supervised release violation.

The United States seized and successfully forfeited over $2.3 million in connection with the healthcare fraud conspiracy.

Padron’s co-defendant Ovidio Roche Gonzalez, who was only charged with the 2022 money laundering conspiracy, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe; Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri, FBI, Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Omar Pérez Aybar, HHS-OIG, made the announcement.

FBI Miami and HHS-OIG Miami investigated this case. AUSA Timothy Abraham is prosecuting this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Stone and Mitchell Hyman are handling asset forfeiture.