6 From Florida Charged With Bilking Insurance Companies

Aug. 15--The owners of a handful of Naples-area chiropractic clinics are accused of fraudulently billing car insurance companies for services that weren't medically necessary and treatments that weren't rendered, in some cases paying people to participate in fake car crashes.

The U.S. attorney's office said Wednesday that Wisler Cyrius, 34, and Anouce Toussaint, 32 -- the owners of Tamiami Pain and Rehab and First Choice Pain and Rehab -- have been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

The two men skirted licensing rules by paying a licensed health care practitioner to pretend to be the owner of the clinics, according to federal prosecutors. Both Cyrius and Toussaint also solicited people for staged crashes, using their clinics to bill insurance companies for services and treatments given to their paid actors.

A third man, Nesly Loute, 51, also was charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud in the scheme, although his level of participation is unclear from a U.S. attorney's office email. Loute was charged in February with fraud, operating an unlicensed clinic and grand theft after managing operations at a similar chiropractic clinic in Orlando.

In a separate indictment, Garry Joseph, 36, and Sijames Melus, 32, the owners of Collier Chiropractic Center and Parkway Medical and Rehab, were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Prosecutors say Joseph and Melus also paid licensed health care practitioners to pretend to be the real owners of the clinics. Both companies submitted claims for services that were never rendered or weren't actually necessary.

The two men are accused of defrauding the insurance companies of more than $2 million.

A woman who worked in the billing department at the clinics, Maria Victoria Lopez, also is being charged with health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Lopez submitted the fraudulent claims at the direction of the clinics' owners and was paid a fee for doing so, according to court documents. She was recorded by a confidential informant coaching him or her on how to participate in treatment after a staged crash and warning the person not to tell the insurance company about the arrangement.

The affidavit says it's lucrative for the clinics to provide treatment to crash victims because the clinics can submit claims of $10,000 to the patients' insurance companies.

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