On November 17, the Justice Department announced that Marieva Briceno, a native of Venezuela, has been stripped of her U.S. citizenship after being found guilty of defrauding Medicare and concealing her crimes during the naturalization process.
Briceno owned three medical clinics in the Detroit area, where she and others paid Medicare beneficiaries to undergo unnecessary tests and procedures. Between May 2007 and January 2010, they submitted over $5.4 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for services that were not medically needed. Of these claims, Medicare paid nearly $3 million, with Briceno personally receiving about $513,200.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said, “The denaturalization of Marieva Briceno shows that if you steal from the programs that serve our most vulnerable citizens, you will be found out, prosecuted, and suffer the consequences of your actions, up to and including the loss of your U.S. citizenship.”
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida added: “American citizenship is a privilege built on honesty and respect for our laws. You cannot defraud Medicare, conceal your crimes, and expect to secure the benefits of citizenship. Fraud against programs that serve our most vulnerable citizens and lies told to obtain naturalization undermine the integrity of both our healthcare system and our immigration process. Our Office will continue to protect taxpayer dollars, defend the rule of law, and ensure that U.S. citizenship is reserved for those who earn it lawfully.”
Briceno applied for U.S. citizenship on December 21, 2009. She failed to disclose her involvement in health care fraud on her application and during an interview under oath with immigration officials. As a result of these misrepresentations, she obtained U.S. citizenship illegally on March 19, 2010.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida charged Briceno with health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud in September 2011. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy in March 2012 and was sentenced to five years in prison.
In August this year, the Justice Department filed a complaint seeking Briceno’s denaturalization based on her criminal activity and failure to disclose it during her naturalization process. On November 17, Judge Darrin Gayles revoked Briceno’s U.S. citizenship.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy Chief Hans H. Chen from the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Feeley for the Southern District of Florida.
