Source: The original uploader was Miami92 at English Wikipedia. / Wikimedia Commons
A Wellington man who ran a network of fake cosmetic surgery clinics was sentenced to seven years in federal prison on Monday after admitting he and his co-conspirators swindled medical lenders out of $2.3 million using the stolen identities of more than 100 people, some of whom were already dead. Jaquez Tullis, 42, owned and managed Contour Medical in Tamarac and also ran Cosmetic Aesthetics in Fort Lauderdale and Radiance Beauty in Miami-Dade County, three of six sham clinics at the center of the scheme.
Tullis pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to a Department of Justice news release reported by the South Florida Sun Sentinel. A factual proffer in the case says the group submitted more than 100 fraudulent loan applications using other people’s names and personal information, including information belonging to practicing doctors, to register clinics without their consent. Those applications sought $3.1 million and ultimately brought in $2.3 million in reimbursements, the proffer states.
Clinics That Treated No One
The six clinics provided no real medical care, according to the DOJ release cited by the Sun Sentinel. The credit applications falsely claimed that loan funds would pay for cosmetic surgery and other medical services, but court records show some of the purported patients never knew the applications existed, had no interest in surgery, or had already died…