The FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida announced the indictment of Ruben Rodriguez and Maria Victoria Suarez, a Coral Gables couple, for the theft of personal data from patients to be sold to personal injury lawyers and clinics. The information would then be used to solicit those patients for lawsuits.
According to the indictment, defendant Rodriguez solicited the assistance of a co-conspirator, who at the time was employed by AMR, an ambulance service provider that offered emergency and non-emergency medical transport services in Miami-Dade County. Defendant Rodriguez reached an agreement with the co-conspirator that required the co-conspirator to illegally gain access to certain personal information of individuals transported by AMR and to turn over that information to Rodriguez, in exchange for payments from Rodriguez.
The indictment further alleges that defendant Rodriguez would, in turn, sell the personal identification information he received from the co-conspirator to either of the following: (1) personal injury attorneys, who would use the personal identification information to improperly solicit individuals transported by AMR with hopes of representing them in future legal proceedings; and/or (2) personal injury clinics, who would use the personal identification information to improperly solicit individuals transported by AMR to offer medical services. The payments defendant Rodriguez received from the attorneys and clinics were determined, in part, by any resulting lawsuits, settlements, payments, and/or reimbursements.
The indictment additionally alleges that in the midst of this conspiracy, defendant Rodriguez introduced the co-conspirator to defendant Suarez, his wife, who thereafter, along with defendant Rodriguez, purchased the illegally obtained information from the co-conspirator for subsequent resale to others, as described above.
According to CBS4 in South Florida, this is not the first time the pair has bagged for this type of activity:
The couple was charged with conspiracy to steal patient records from Jackson Memorial Hospital last year. Rodriguez and Suarez allegedly used the same technique to get the information and get rich off of it.
According to investigators Rodriguez paid JMH ultrasound technician Rebecca Garcia $1000 a month for patient records between December 2006 and February 2009.
An unnamed personal-injury lawyer reportedly wrote checks worth more than $85,000 to a shell company between 2006 and 2009. The false account allegedly provided Rodriguez and Suarez kickback money.
That case has not yet gone to trial. Let's hope the courts have the good sense to hold them without bail this time.
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