Two Charged in Multi-Year Conspiracy to Buy and Sell Stolen Medicare Beneficiary Information from Major South Florida Health Care Network

MIAMI - A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned a multi-count indictment charging a Miami woman for allegedly orchestrating a years-long scheme to obtain and sell the confidential Medicare beneficiary identifier numbers (BINs) of thousands of patients for use in Medicare fraud schemes. A related criminal information was also filed charging a former health care network employee with conspiring to unlawfully disclose the protected patient information.

According to court documents, Kenia Marrero, 46, of Miami, paid Joan Navarro Bruguet, 51, of Miami, a former employee of a Miami-based regional health care provider network identified in court filings as "Provider A," to secretly provide Marrero with confidential patient information, including names, dates of birth, and Medicare BINs. Beginning in or around January 2022 and continuing through February 2025, Navarro Bruguet allegedly accessed Provider A's confidential patient records using his work computer, photographed patient information displayed on his screen using his personal cellphone, and sent the images to Marrero through an encrypted messaging application.

Court records allege that Marrero paid Navarro Bruguet approximately $500 for each patient list containing around 100 Medicare beneficiaries. Marrero then allegedly worked with others, including Juan Carlos Cardella - who has already been sentenced in this district on related charges - to redistribute and resell the stolen patient information, for as much as $7,000 per list, to individuals involved in Medicare fraud schemes.

According to the court records, the scheme resulted in the unlawful disclosure of confidential Medicare information belonging to more than 6,000 beneficiaries.

The indictment further alleges that Marrero participated in a durable medical equipment (DME) fraud scheme that submitted more than $5 million in fraudulent Medicare claims using patient identifiers obtained through the conspiracy. Court documents also allege that Marrero deposited more than $460,000 in Medicare fraud proceeds into a bank account associated with the fraudulent DME company.

In addition, the indictment alleges that during a recorded in-person meeting in January 2026, Marrero instructed a Provider A employee to "deny everything," to "stay strong and deny and never say anything to anyone," and to do "no more texting on the phone," but if there were a need to text, that they should "do like we always do and ask me about candles."

Marrero is charged with conspiracy to buy, sell, and distribute BINs; 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 BINs.

If convicted, Marrero and Navarro Bruguet each face up to five years in federal prison for conspiracy to buy, sell, and distribute BINs. Marrero also faces up to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and each health care fraud count, up to 10 years for each money laundering count, and a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years for each aggravated identity theft count.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Issac Bledsoe of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, (HHS-OIG), Miami Regional Office; and Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

HHS-OIG Miami and FBI Miami are investigating the case. Provider A provided early and ongoing assistance in the investigation of this matter.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eduardo Gardea, Jr. is prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabrielle Raemy Charest-Turken is handling asset forfeiture.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

The Department of Justice, HHS-OIG, and the FBI encourage members of the public to remain vigilant against any signs of identity theft or suspicious claims submitted to their health insurance plans, including Medicare. Individuals should carefully review their explanation of benefits ("EOB") documents; and if they see any sign of suspicious or unauthorized claims in their Medicare records, they should call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or Report Medicare Fraud online at https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud/Links to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. under case numbers 26-cr-20183 (Marrero), 26-cr-20198 (Navarro Bruguet), and 25-cr-20280 (Cardella).

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