McAllen Woman Arrested on Healthcare Fraud Charges
MCALLEN - The owner of a Rio Grande Valley medical equipment company accused of trying to defraud state Medicaid was arrested on Thursday.
Anna Ramirez-Ambriz faces six counts of healthcare fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft. A federal grand jury indicted the 55-year-old earlier this week in McAllen.
Ramirez-Ambriz is the owner of Compassionate Medical Supply. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Texas said she tried to defraud Texas Medicaid through fraudulent billings.
According to the indictment, Ramirez-Ambriz allegedly submitted false and fraudulent claims for durable medical equipment that was not provided. The supplies were not delivered or were only partially delivered to Medicaid recipients.
Ramirez-Ambriz is also accused of using identities of Medicaid recipients for unlawful billings to the Texas medical program.
The claims, which were made from 2007 to 2013, totaled more than $4 million. Texas Medicaid allegedly paid out more than $3 million.
If convicted, Ramirez-Ambriz could face up to 10 years in prison for fraud charges. In addition, she could face a mandatory 24-month sentence for the identity theft charges, which must be served consecutively to any other prison sentence.