A Florida man/health care fraudster attempted to flee to Cuba on a jet ski to avoid prosecution. Ernesto Cruz Graveran, 54, was caught while fleeing on a jet ski loaded with food and water for the 90-mile.
Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Carlos Suarez said that Graveran likely tried to flee to Cuba to evade prosecution.
A medical device company run by Graveran reportedly sought $4.2 million in Medicare payments for fake claims, according to the Southern District of Florida. The New York Post reports that Graveran pocketed $2.1 million over just two months in February and April. The scheme then unraveled and Florida authorities responded with an indictment.
Once, Graveran’s company, Xiko Enterprises, even sought $1 million in claims for equipment for 145 ‘patients’ from one doctor. Investigators later confirmed that those recipients never existed and the doctor never filed any claims on their behalf.
Officials revealed in a statement that the jet ski had “special fuel cell to allow for long trips, and within the compartments of the jet ski, law enforcement discovered a trove of food and water bottles,”
While into his journey, the U.S. Coast Guard captured Graveran took him into custody.
US Magistrate Judge Alicia Otazo-Reyes ordered Graveran to be detained without bail at the Federal Detention Center in Miami while he awaits his trial. The judge agreed that Graveran poses a flight risk and therefore confiscated his passport.
Graveran, along with another man who accompanied him and previously smuggled undocumented people into the US, were taken into custody.