A Las Vegas physician has pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud and identity theft charges tied to a scheme in which she billed Medicaid and Medicare for services she could not have performed because she was traveling abroad, 8 News Now reported Sept. 25.
Neri Maria Blanco-Cuevas, MD, pleaded guilty to submitting false claims and obtaining and using an older person’s personal identifying information for an unlawful purpose, both felonies, according to a plea agreement obtained by the publication.
From February 2019 to December 2023, Dr. Blanco-Cuevas billed Medicaid and Medicare for services she said were performed in countries including China, Mexico, France, Dubai, England, Tahiti, Canada, Germany, Colombia and Iceland, and investigators determined she could not have provided the care because she was out of the country at the time.
Under the March 11 plea agreement, prosecutors from the Nevada Attorney General’s office agreed not to argue for prison time. Instead, Dr. Blanco-Cuevas faces a 30-day jail term, 210 days of house arrest and more than $681,000 in restitution and costs, and she is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 29 in Clark County District Court.
The plea follows a nearly 20-year history of complaints against Dr. Blanco-Cuevas with the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners, which allowed her to keep practicing through two earlier settlement agreements before she surrendered her medical license for 10 years on June 12, marking her third settlement with the board, according to 8 News Now.
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