Enrique Perez-Paris, 47, of Aventura, Florida, and Diego Sanudo Sanchez Chocron, 47, of Venice, California, made their initial appearances April 24 in the U.S. District Court for Southern District of Florida. Gregory Charles “Milo” Caskey, 57, of San Antonio, Texas, made his initial appearance April 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
According to court documents, Perez-Paris, Sanchez, and Caskey were owners of Innovative Genomics, an independent laboratory. Between November 2019 and June 2023, the defendants and others allegedly conspired to submit claims for medically unnecessary and non-reimbursable COVID-19 testing. The defendants also allegedly paid illegal kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters who arranged for health care providers to refer the tests to Innovative Genomics. At times, the defendants allegedly caused the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program to be improperly billed for tests for Medicare beneficiaries. The defendants allegedly further billed for tests that the Food and Drug Administration had not approved for emergency-use authorization.
The defendants are each charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, three counts of health care fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, they each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the conspiracy counts and a maximum penalty of 10 years on each health care fraud count.