Federal authorities in the United States allege that Cuban immigrant Joel Regino Díaz Martín fled to Cuba with a fortune after orchestrating a massive Medicaid fraud scheme in Miami. Díaz pretended to own a mental health clinic, illicitly securing approximately $4 million from the state insurance program for low-income individuals.
A report by the Miami Herald disclosed that Díaz amassed his wealth by falsely claiming ownership of the New Behavior Health Direction clinic in Hialeah Gardens, Florida. However, the real owner was Cuban American José Dávila Núñez. Substantial portions of the fraudulent profits, obtained through fake Medicaid billings, were funneled to Dávila, who compensated Díaz for serving as the "designated owner" of the clinic, according to court records.
Díaz, who arrived in Florida in 2018, reportedly fled to Cuba in the fall of 2020, as detailed by the Miami publication. Before fleeing, he transferred millions from the clinic's accounts to his boss, retaining a portion of the funds for himself, as indicated in judicial documents.
The Broader Scheme and Its Players
The Miami Herald noted that Díaz's case is part of a larger trend where "hundreds of Cuban immigrants" have come to South Florida to engage in healthcare billing fraud, only to flee back to the island or other Latin American countries when pursued by federal agents. This pattern was previously documented by the newspaper in a 2018 story titled "Medicare Crooks."
On October 11, Dávila, aged 51 and residing in Miami, received a sentence of over five years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. He was also ordered to pay $3,869,703 in restitution to Medicaid.
Two of Dávila's associates, Jesús Rojas, 44, and Luis Rivero, 50, also admitted to conspiring to pay kickbacks to patients from November 2018 to December 2022. They did so in exchange for patients attending alleged mental health sessions at three other Miami clinics: Davila Medical Center, Incorporated, Advanced Community Wellness Center, and Larkin Behavior Health, Incorporated. These clinics collectively defrauded Medicaid of about $12 million. Rojas and Rivero received sentences ranging from two to three years in prison.
Revelations and Consequences
From April 2019 to September 2020, New Behavior Health Direction filed fraudulent Medicaid claims totaling $3,869,703, purportedly for providing psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) services. PSR is a form of therapy aimed at assisting individuals with disorders such as depression and anxiety.
In September 2020, Díaz, acting as the "designated owner," made several cash withdrawals from the fraud proceeds, handed part of the money to Dávila, and then escaped to Cuba, as reported by the Miami Herald based on a factual statement linked to Dávila's plea agreement. However, the statement didn't specify how much taxpayer-funded Medicaid money Díaz took to Cuba.
The U.S. government managed to seize roughly $1.7 million in cash connected to New Behavior Health Direction's bank accounts. According to the newspaper's report, the federal prosecutor's office in Miami declined to comment on whether Díaz faces charges related to the Medicaid fraud, and no criminal cases are registered under his name in the South Florida federal judicial system.
The plea agreement accompanying Dávila's case revealed that in June 2018, he "instructed" Díaz to register as the sole owner of New Behavior and enroll the clinic in Medicaid.
During the investigation, federal agents discovered that Dávila had stolen the identity of a Miami-Dade physician to list him as the supervising doctor for New Behavior, facilitating the clinic's Medicaid billing scheme. In 2020, investigators confirmed through an interview with the doctor that he neither oversaw New Behavior nor knew Dávila.
Dávila also misappropriated the identity of a therapist, allegedly representing nearly half of the $3.8 million billed to Medicaid by New Behavior. The investigation revealed that the therapist had never provided mental health treatment to anyone at the clinic.
To channel the fraudulent funds, Dávila instructed Díaz to open six corporate bank accounts at TD Bank, Regions Bank, and Truist Bank, where Dávila deposited $1.7 million in illicit earnings, which were later confiscated by federal authorities.
In September 2020, federal agents visited Díaz's last known address at 1116 Palm Ave., Hialeah, but the owner informed them that he had already moved out. Since then, authorities have been unable to locate him. A government witness reportedly told federal agents that Díaz had "returned to Cuba," as mentioned in the Miami Herald report.