FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida man has pleaded guilty to a multi-million-dollar scheme to buy COVID-19 test kits to defraud Medicare.
47-year-old Corey Alston, from Fort Lauderdale, pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiring to defraud the United States by buying Medicare identification numbers and submitting over $8.4 million in false claims for COVID-19 test kits.
Court documents say that, along with his co-defendant Latresia A. Wilson, Alston used stolen Medicare beneficiary information to bill the government for test kits that were not requested by the beneficiaries.
According to the United States Department of Justice, from July 2022 through February 2023, Alston, Wilson, and their associates submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare, resulting in payments over $2.6 million. Alston personally profited more than $2.3 million from this scheme.
Wilson pleaded guilty on June 10, 2024, and is scheduled for sentencing on May 15. Alston will be sentenced on July 9. Each faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
"I know that my daughter is not the only one going through this difficult time, but she is not a criminal," said Lourdes Martinez. "She does not deserve to be there."
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