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June 19, 2012 at 09:48 AM
MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge has ordered a South Florida man held until his arraignment Friday for allegedly conspiring to launder tens of millions of Medicare fraud dollars that authorities say were eventually funneled into the Cuban banking system.
In a motion filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Miami, prosecutors said Oscar Sanchez, a 46-year-old U.S. citizen and native of Cuba, provided cash to the masterminds behind the alleged fraud in exchange for a fee. They also said Sanchez conspired to send money from the Medicare fraud first to shell companies in Canada before it was passed on through a Trinidad bank and eventually onto Cuba.
Sanchez’s attorney, Peter Raben, said his client was in federal custody and would be arraigned Friday. Raben declined comment on the charges.
According to a motion signed by the U.S. Attorney Wilfredo Ferrer, “evidence shows that Sanchez was intimately involved in the vast laundering operation while it was occurring.”
Prosecutors are seeking more than $22 million in property from Sanchez. If convicted, he could face 13 years in prison.
The case is part of a much broader health care fraud investigation.
