More than $600,000 held in Jersey bank accounts by US-based fraudster who exploited temporary changes to healthcare provision during the Covid pandemic has been returned to the American Department of Justice.
In April 2022, Gustavo Geraldes was convicted of conspiracy to offer and pay healthcare kickbacks after running a scheme in which telemedicine providers authorised medically unnecessary genetic testing to be performed at laboratories part-owned by him.
The scheme exploited temporary changes to health restrictions enacted during the Covid pandemic, which were intended to make it easier for Medicare patients to receive medical care at home. Medicare is a US healthcare program which provides free or below-cost healthcare benefits to many Americans including the elderly, blind, and disabled.
US authorities later learned that Mr Geraldes had transferred money to a Jersey bank account after imposing a $2,645,891.55 forfeiture order.
In total, $667,000 in confiscated funds was transferred from Jersey to the USA.
The US authorities sought the Attorney General’s assistance in obtaining a saisie judiciaire over the money in Jersey and the registration and enforcement of the US Order.
Attorney General Matthew Jowitt KC said: “The Mutual Legal Assistance Team in the Law Officers’ Department has worked closely with the US Department of Justice in this case involving a large-scale healthcare fraud. The case is a further example of the highly effective working relationship between the two jurisdictions in fulfilling the purpose of the confiscation regime.”
