Mission counselor accused of $2 million healthcare fraud scheme

A 46-year-old Mission man is accused of bilking the Texas Medicaid Program out of $2 million by representing that he provided counseling services at his Brownsville office.

Federal prosecutors, however, allege that Juan Martin Flores never actually rendered those services, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

A grand jury indicted Flores on Aug. 7 and he was arrested Thursday.

He’s accused of submitting more than 15,000 fraudulent claims to Medicaid for services that were never provided.

“Between 2018 and 2022, the claims resulted in approximately $2 million in Medicaid payments, according to the charges,” the release stated. “The indictment further alleges Flores used the personal information of Medicaid beneficiaries without their consent to facilitate the fraudulent billing scheme.”

Prosecutors allege Flores submitted the claims under his national provider identifier, representing he provided counseling services at his Brownsville office.

“However, he allegedly never actually rendered those services,” the release stated. “The indictment details multiple instances in which he unlawfully used Medicaid beneficiaries’ identities in the fraudulent claims.”

As of Friday morning, access to the indictment was still restricted in federal court records.

Flores is charged with 10 counts of healthcare fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft.

He was scheduled to make a first appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker in McAllen federal court on Friday morning.

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