A Miami woman and an alleged accomplice are indicted after a federal investigation found they bought and sold Medicare beneficiary identifiers and other protected patient data, then used that information in schemes that produced millions in fraudulent claims and payouts.
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned a multi-count indictment charging a Miami woman with orchestrating a scheme to obtain and sell confidential Medicare beneficiary identifier numbers, sometimes called BINs, belonging to thousands of patients. Authorities say the scheme ran for years and supplied information directly to people who used it in Medicare fraud operations. Criminal information also charges a former health care network employee with conspiring to disclose protected patient information unlawfully.
Court filings identify the defendant as Kenia Marrero, 46, of Miami, and name Joan Navarro Bruguet, 51, of Miami, as a former employee of a regional health care provider called in filings “Provider A.” The filings allege Marrero paid Navarro Bruguet to access Provider A’s patient records and to extract names, dates of birth, and Medicare BINs. Prosecutors say Navarro Bruguet used his work computer to view records, photographed screens with his personal cellphone, and sent those images to Marrero via an encrypted messaging app.
The alleged activities span from about January 2022 through February 2025, according to court documents. Prosecutors claim Marrero paid roughly $500 for each list, with each list containing about 100 Medicare beneficiary records. Marrero then worked with others to redistribute and resell the stolen data, and at least one cooperator named in filings, Juan Carlos Cardella, has already been sentenced in related matters.
Court filings say the stolen lists were resold for as much as $7,000 apiece to individuals running Medicare fraud schemes, and that the unlawful disclosures affected more than 6,000 beneficiaries. The indictment further alleges Marrero took part in a durable medical equipment fraud scheme that led to more than $5 million in fraudulent Medicare claims submitted using the pilfered identifiers. Prosecutors allege Marrero deposited over $460,000 in proceeds into a bank account tied to a fraudulent DME company.
The indictment quotes a recorded in-person January 2026 meeting in which Marrero allegedly 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.” Those statements form part of the evidence prosecutors highlight in the charging documents.
Marrero faces multiple counts: 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, the defendants face substantial federal penalties laid out in the indictment.
Specifically, Marrero and Navarro Bruguet each face up to five years in prison for the BIN conspiracy charge. Marrero also faces up to 10 years for the conspiracy to commit health care fraud and for each health care fraud count, up to 10 years for each money laundering count, and a mandatory consecutive two-year term for each aggravated identity theft count alleged in the indictment.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida announced the charging documents alongside special agents from HHS-OIG Miami and the FBI Miami Field Office. HHS-OIG Miami and FBI Miami are investigating the matter with assistance from Provider A, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eduardo Gardea, Jr. is prosecuting the case while Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabrielle Raemy Charest-Turken handles asset forfeiture.
The indictment is an allegation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The Department of Justice announced the creation of a Fraud Division on April 7 to sharpen enforcement against schemes that steal from federal benefit programs, and that work ties into broader efforts at the Department to combat fraud. Members of the public are urged to monitor explanation of benefits documents and to report suspicious or unauthorized claims to Medicare by phone at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or through the HHS-OIG reporting portal.
