A Florida clinic CEO was sentenced to 13 months in prison and a VA employee to six months for a kickback scheme that steered veterans and their families into a clinic whose claims to the VA topped $14 million, the Justice Department (DOJ) said Nov. 5. Prosecutors say more than $11 million of those claims was paid. Both men are from Orlando.
Who was sentenced, and for what?
Heriberto Rivera, 43, was the CEO of Family Integrative Medicine of Orlando, LLC. He received 13 months in prison and was ordered to forfeit $515,542. Laurent Cassagnol, also 43, worked as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant for the VA Community Care Program and received six months in prison and a $175,172 forfeiture order.
The Justice Department says Rivera paid Cassagnol kickbacks and bribes. In return, Cassagnol used his VA job to steer veterans and their families to Rivera’s clinic for acupuncture, chiropractic adjustments and other holistic medical services. The department says the forfeitures represent the proceeds the defendants obtained from the offense…