Federal prosecutors say a Miami woman ran a years-long black-market operation built on stolen Medicare beneficiary ID numbers pulled from a regional health network, exposing data for more than 6,000 patients and feeding a stream of fraudulent billing. An indictment returned Tuesday alleges the patient lists were used both to submit bogus durable medical equipment claims and to resell the stolen identifiers to other fraudsters.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, prosecutors say 46-year-old Kenia Marrero paid a former employee of a Miami health network, identified in court filings as Joan Navarro Bruguet, to quietly photograph patient records and send the images through an encrypted messaging app. Court records state that Navarro Bruguet accessed Provider A's records from about January 2022 through February 2025, and that Marrero paid roughly $500 for each patient list of about 100 Medicare beneficiaries, then flipped some of those lists to buyers for as much as $7,000.
How Prosecutors Say the Scheme Worked
As reported by NBC6 South Florida, prosecutors allege Marrero used the stolen beneficiary identifiers to power a durable medical equipment fraud scheme that generated more than $5 million in false Medicare claims. They say more than $460,000 was deposited into a bank account tied to a sham DME company at the center of the operation.
The indictment further alleges Marrero was recorded in January 2026 telling a Provider A employee to "deny everything," to "stay strong and deny and never say anything to anyone," and to stop texting. Prosecutors characterize those comments as an effort to keep the scheme under wraps once scrutiny started closing in.
Part of a Wider Medicare Fraud Crackdown
The case lands amid an intensified federal push against Medicare and DME fraud in South Florida, a region that has long drawn law enforcement attention for health care scams. In January 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida secured convictions in a separate $34 million DME fraud case, underscoring investigators' focus on schemes that target Medicare beneficiaries, particularly older patients.
What Beneficiaries Should Check
Federal authorities urge anyone worried about misuse of their information to keep a close eye on paperwork and accounts. Officials recommend reviewing Medicare Explanation of Benefits statements, checking bank and credit card records for unfamiliar charges, and promptly reporting anything suspicious.
The HHS Office of Inspector General provides an online portal where people can report suspected Medicare fraud. Beneficiaries can also call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to ask about questionable claims or activity on their accounts.
Legal Consequences and Next Steps
Marrero is charged with conspiracy to buy, sell and distribute beneficiary identifier numbers, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, four counts of health care fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, and two counts of money laundering. Navarro Bruguet is charged with conspiracy to buy, sell and distribute beneficiary numbers.
If convicted, prosecutors say the defendants face statutory penalties that include up to five years in prison for the BIN conspiracy count, up to 10 years for each health care fraud and money laundering count, and mandatory consecutive two-year terms for each aggravated identity theft charge, as reported by NBC6 South Florida.
Court filings list case numbers 26-cr-20183 for Marrero and 26-cr-20198 for Navarro Bruguet. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eduardo Gardea Jr. is prosecuting the matter. Prosecutors emphasize that an indictment is only an allegation and that both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
