Husband And Wife Charged With Fraud Scheme Relating To Nursing Services At A Bronx-Based Hospital

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the unsealing of a Complaint charging BETSY MONTALVO and EDWARD GONZALEZ with a wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with a fraudulent scheme to provide of nursing services at a Bronx-based hospital.  Both defendants were arrested yesterday in New York and presented before United States Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan federal court. 

According to the allegations in the Complaint[1]:

MONTALVO and GONZALEZ were principals of a Bronx-based nursing company (“Nursing Company-1”) that provided temporary nursing services to client companies in the New York City area.  From March 2015 to March 2017, one of Nursing Company-1’s clients was a Bronx-based hospital (“Hospital-1”), and Nursing Company-1 provided and scheduled registered and licensed practical nurses on a temporary basis to fill the staffing needs of Hospital-1. 

As alleged in the Complaint, in May 2015, a factoring company (“Factoring Company-1”) entered into a contractual relationship with Nursing Company-1 to purchase Nursing Company-1’s accounts receivable (invoices) owed to it by Hospital-1.  The Complaint alleges that MONTALVO, GONZALEZ, and a co-conspirator not named as a defendant in the Complaint engaged in a scheme in which they presented to Factoring Company-1 false, fraudulent, and inflated invoices that did not reflect the nursing services for Hospital-1 that had been performed by Nursing Company-1.  In some instances, the identities of nurses who performed no services for Nursing Company-1 or Hospital-1 were listed on the fraudulent invoices.  Relying on the fraudulent invoices, Factoring Company-1 paid Nursing Company-1 a percentage of the fraudulent invoices. 

The Complaint alleges that the attempted losses associated with the fraud scheme are $664,761. 

MONTALVO, 49, and GONZALEZ, 47, both of Bronx, New York, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years; one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years.  The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by the judge.

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the Special Agents with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1]   As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint, and the description of the Complaint set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.