Chula Vista business owner pleads guilty in $51M Medicare fraud scheme

Federal courthouse in downtown San Diego Photo by Chris Stone Times of San Diego A Chula Vista man who owned multiple medicinal equipment companies pleaded guilty Tuesday to his part in a scheme to bill Medicare for millions of dollars in fraudulent indicates Fernando Valenzuela Ayub admitted to paying kickbacks to companies that provided fake prescriptions for durable health equipment sold by his companies such as back wrist or knee braces according to the U S Attorney s Office Valenzuela ultimately billed Medicare for around million and was paid about million according to prosecutors who reported he laundered million of the proceeds He also admitted paying million in kickbacks for the bogus prescriptions Valenzuela pleaded guilty Tuesday in San Diego federal court to conspiring with others to launder the fraud proceeds As part of his plea agreement he will forfeit more than million He is scheduled to be sentenced in August