HEALTH CARE FRAUD Businessman admits faking documents

A Filipino businessman yesterday pled guilty to one count of health care fraud before the U.S. District Court, two days after his wife admitted guilt for the same charge in connection with government health insurance funds.

Emmanuel Silvino, manager of MegaPlus International CNMI Inc., a physical therapy service provider, told Judge Alex R. Munson that he was responsible for fraudulent records submitted to the CNMI government to collect insurance claims between June 1997 to December 1999.

“As manager, I allowed my staff to submit altered documents. I didn’t have the will to bring this matter to authorities to stop this at once, ” he said.

In an earlier statement sent to news agencies, the couple had blamed an administrative assistant of the company for producing these records to collect payment from the local government health insurance program with amounts ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. A sister of Dinnalyn, she died of lupus early this year.

According to U.S. Assistant Attorney Kevin Seely, if the case had gone to trial, the prosecution would have proven to the court that MegaPlus had tricked the Commonwealth government of at least $50,000 by falsifying papers, such as doctor’s prescription, to collect payment for services rendered to beneficiaries of the health care program.

Mr. Silvino was originally facing 12 counts of fraud when he and his wife, Dinnalyn, were arrested last month by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation following its discovery by the CNMI public auditor’s office, but the complaint was dropped in exchange for the plea agreement.

Both had waived an indictment before a grand jury for the guilty plea. Judge Munson set the sentencing date for the Silvino couple on July 25 after the U.S. Probation Office completes its report.

Under a deal similar to his wife’s plea agreement accepted by the court last Monday, Mr. Silvino could face a less severe penalty for the charge that carries a maximum 10 years imprisonment, a fine of not more than $250,000 and a three-year supervised release after serving time in jail if convicted.

He agreed to cooperate with FBI, the prosecution and other federal law enforcement agencies to uncover other similar incidents as well as to undergo a lie-detector test and to waive his right to appeal his conviction and the sentence.

Since it’s part of the penalty to pay whatever fine and restitution imposed by the court, he also agreed to forfeit assets and properties in order to meet the financial obligation.

But Judge Munson told Mr. Silvino, who is still a Filipino citizen with long-term investor visa here, that the felony offense, punishable by at least a year in jail, could jeopardize his application for U.S. permanent residency status which came out last December.

He was also informed that he could be deported immediately to the Philippines after serving out his jail sentence and that it would be hard for him to re-enter the CNMI or any U.S. jurisdiction as a result of the conviction.