Medicaid fraud investigation leads to 20 arrests in the Jacksonville area

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Twenty people are accused of helping a Jacksonville company bill the government more than five million dollars in fraudulent claims.

One of the suspects lives in Jacksonville.

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Jose Enrique Hernandez is accused of using his non-emergency medical transportation company, Sweet Transportation, to bill trips never taken and overstate mileage for reimbursement.

Hernandez was operating the company out of a home in Sans Souci.

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Neighbors said they were not surprised to hear the arrest.

“If you are going to have that kind of business, would you really park your business vehicles on your property? In my opinion, I walked by, and thought ‘I’m not really sure about all that’,” said neighbor Stacey Willis.

Fernandez signed an agreement to subcontract for Modivcare in 2020. By 2022 he had 30 drivers.

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Investigators say he billed Medicaid for 450 miles a day per driver everyday of the year.

Modivcare tells Action News Jax it is cooperating with the investigation.

Three other people from Clay County were arrested for the same crime.

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Clay County Sheriff’s Office says their investigation show the suspects billed for thousands of trips that never happened.

These are the following people arrested from Clay County.

• Martha Gloria Guevara Paz, 68 years old.
• Yilber Ricardo Martinez Quintero, 39 years old.
• Astrid Viviana Lineros Orjuela, 34 years old.

This case will be prosecuted by Attorney General Moody.

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