DANVILLE, Va. – Dr. Edwin L. Fuentes, of Danville, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud and one count of willfully evading taxes.
If Fuentes' case had gone to trial, Assistant US Attorney Heather L Carlton would have proven that Fuentes owned and operated a general medical practice in Danville called Morning Star Family Medicine, where he committed the fraud and tax evasion.
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Evidence presented in court showed from at least January 2012 through December 2014, the medical practice billed covered patients to various insurers. Fuentes supervised all billing decisions at Morning Star, and he was the only one authorized to complete the superbill, which listed services the health care benefit programs provided.
During the two-year span, Fuentes had directed and ordered other Morning Star employees, during the two year span, to bill the health care benefit programs without providing the services to the patients.
Through Morning Star, Fuentes was able to defraud the health care benefit programs resulting in overpaying Fuentes $999,228. Some of these funds were diverted to a Wells Fargo bank account by Fuentes for day trading. He hadn't been reporting this extra income to the IRS for the tax years of 2011 through 2014.