Two West Covina women face federal accusations that allegedly scam Medicare from millions, and are paying kickbacks to those who can source more patients for the scheme.
Normita Sierra, the 71-year-old owner of two West Covina hospices, is allegedly “submitted more than $4.8 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary services for those who have not violated Termin.
Sierra (aka “Normie”) faces nine counts of healthcare fraud, four counts of illegal rewards for healthcare referrals, and a count of conspiracy.
Additionally, 55-year-old Rowena Elegado (aka “Weng”) faces illegal rewards and conspiracy numbers.
Prosecutors say Golden Meadows Hospice Inc. and D’Alexandria Hospice Inc. of Sierra billed Medicare for hospice services for patients who were not terminally ill between September 2018 and October 2022.
Sierra and Elegado said, “Even though they knew that most of the patients had not been referred by the primary care physician for such services, they allegedly cooperated to pay the patients a kickback of up to $1,300 per patient to recruiters who brought the patients to the hospice.
Prosecutors have identified two other people who have already pleaded guilty to their role in the scheme.
Carl Bernardo, a 53-year-old Chino resident who pleaded guilty to one count that accepted a kickback in September and pleaded guilty to Relyndo Salcedo, a 60-year-old nurse practitioner in Fontana on October 23, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud in May, with a November 20 sentence set.
Salcedo initially evaluated potential hospice patients and found many ineligible patients, but Sierra “made the ultimate registration decision.” Sierra and Bernardo put pressure on Salcedo. Salcedo “exaggerated and fake the patient’s condition to make the patient look terminally,” the prosecutor said.
“The hospice doctors then relied on salcedo records to prove their patients suitable for hospice,” the release explained. “Once you register, patients who were not actually terminally ill rarely died, and instead were discharged to a home health company or other hospice company, at Sierra’s direction, for about six months, and sometimes at home health company or other hospice company.”
Sierra and Elegado will be arrested Tuesday afternoon in US District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
If convicted, each count of healthcare fraud or illegal kickbacks will be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in federal prison, while the conspiracy will be sentenced to a maximum of five years.
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