Miramar doctor pleads guilty to health care fraud

A doctor whowas the last remaining defendant in the notorious drug abuse treatment fraud operated byKenneth Chatman pleaded guilty to a health care fraud conspiracy charge on Friday.

Dr. JoaquinMendez, 52, of Miramar, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 when he is sentenced in September. Chatman, 47, is serving 27½ years in federal prison after admitting he was the ringleader of amassive fraud at sober homes and substance abuse treatment centers he controlled in Palm BeachandBrowardcounties. Chatman billed for unnecessary tests and procedures, forced some patients into prostitution and encouraged others to continue using drugs so he could bleed their insurance plans dry.

Mendez was listed as the medical director of Reflections Treatment Center in Margate, which claimed to treat patients addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Mendez admitted he ordered hundreds of unnecessary urine and saliva tests for patients, at the request of Chatman, so Chatman could fraudulently bill insurance companies. The doctor also billed for more complicated and expensive examinations than were required, he admitted in court records.

“If Mendez had closely monitored the drug test results, he would have realized that most of the patients at Reflections were continuing to abuse drugs,” according to the plea agreement Mendez signed. Despite his medical training, Mendez said he let Chatman dictate so-called treatment at the centers in exchange for payment.

Mendez has remained freeona$100,000bondsince his arrest in December. He is still licensed to practice medicine and works at Lakeside Medical Center in Pembroke Pines, according to court and state records.

He is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 27 in federal court inWest Palm Beach.

pmcmahon@ sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4533