The councilwoman’s suspension came to light in a press release issued by Mayor Esteban Bovo, in which he explained that the City office had been notified by the governor’s executive office about the measure.
“This decision comes after Ms. Pacheco was indicted and arrested on federal charges alleging that the defendant fraudulently billed private insurance companies for millions of dollars for medical services not performed through an addiction treatment center,” the mayor said in the document, who also expressed his disappointment with Pacheco’s actions and said he hopes to turn the page on what he called “dark chapter for the city.”
What he is acussed
Pacheco, who recently claimed to be innocent at a press conference, described herself as the victim of a conspiracy against her for exposing what she calls “corruption in the city.”
The Grand Jury, however, does not think the same. In the 20-page indictment, he accused the former councilor of eight charges: six for health system fraud and two for electronic fraud.
According to the indictment, Pacheco, who is a registered nurse, was an employee and owner of Florida Life Recovery and Rehabilitation LLC (Florida Life), a substance abuse treatment center in Miami-Dade, where partial hospitalization (PHP) services were offered and outpatient therapies (IOP and OP) to individuals, including those with insurance plans, is accused of conspiring together with the medical director of the Florida Life clinic – individual 1 – to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud from July 2017 to August 2020 , with the purpose of getting rich.
Health system fraud
The grand jury’s indictment explains that Pacheco and his co-conspirators established and controlled Florida Life to use for their criminal purposes.
“Angélica Pacheco did so knowingly with the intent to further the objectives of the conspiracy, combine, conspire, associate and agree with Individual 1 and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury,” the indictment states.
In order to attract and retain patients to the clinic, they offered bribes and payments in the form of money, gift cards, free flights, and other incentives. They also exchanged patients with other treatment centers in order to continue billing insurance companies, the document details.
They are also accused of submitting false claims to health insurance companies, claiming to have provided medical treatments and services that, in many cases, were not provided, were not necessary or were of poor quality.
According to the record, Pacheco and his associates, in order to keep patients calm and ensure that they continued to attend their clinic, inappropriately prescribed and administered medications, including controlled substances.
He is also accused of ordering unnecessary and expensive medical tests on his patients, such as urinalysis, to increase insurance claims. They also allegedly created false records to justify that they had provided therapies when in fact this was not true.
The federal jury also accused him of making false claims to health insurance plans for a total of $15.4 million. Of these claims, the insurance companies allegedly paid him $4.2 million. That is, $3.7 million to Florida Life and about $520,000 to the laboratories associated with the scheme.
Electronic Fraud
The grand jury alleges that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pacheco submitted fraudulent applications for economic relief loans (EIDL and PPP) from the Small Business Administration.
The complaint alleges that the nurse used the funds obtained for her personal benefit and to continue fueling the fraud scheme created at Florida Life.
Scheme details
On April 2, 2020, Angelica Pacheco submitted an EIDL loan application on behalf of Florida Life, allegedly falsely stating that Florida Life “was not involved in any illegal activity.”
On June 11, 2020, Pacheco submitted an EIDL Authorization and Loan Agreement for approximately $150,000. In it he certified that everything stated in the loan application was “true, correct.”
On June 15, 2020, the SBA approved the EIDL loan and deposited $149,900 into a Florida Life corporate account.
On May 13, 2020, Pacheco submitted an application, this time for a PPP loan on behalf of Florida Life for approximately $86,326, also stating that the company was “not engaged in illegal activity under federal, state, and local laws.” Two days later, he received the money in the corporate bank account.
PPP was the program authorized by the CARES Act during the pandemic that provided loans to small businesses to retain employment by paying payroll and other expenses such as rent and water or electricity.
Apparently, what makes Pacheco’s claims fraudulent is stating that Florida Life was not involved in illegal activities.
The indictment alleges that on the dates specified, Pacheco transmitted and caused to be transmitted various interstate and foreign electronic communications to execute and further the fraudulent scheme.
Case reopened
Individual 1, who appears throughout this indictment as an alleged accomplice, was the medical director of Florida Life. This person would have been tried in 2022 for this same case and found guilty and sentenced to prison for fraud against the health system. At that time, Pacheco, after proving his integrity, was cleared of guilt and the case was apparently closed. Two years later, the case is suddenly reopened.
Pacheco, who insisted on her innocence, said she could not afford a private attorney, so she is being represented by a public defender.
“My innocence will be proven, I am calm,” said the former councilor and denounced that those who reopened the case intend to silence their complaints about what is happening in Hialeah, but that they are not going to succeed. “They are not going to silence me,” she stressed.
With Pacheco out of office, the Hialeah Council must now appoint a person to replace him or, failing that, call a special election.
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Record of Imputation:
