Two Charged in Multi-Year Conspiracy to Buy and Sell Stolen Medicare Beneficiary Information

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida has indicted a Miami woman for allegedly orchestrating a years-long scheme to obtain and sell confidential Medicare beneficiary identifier numbers for use in Medicare fraud schemes. A related criminal information also charged a former employee of a major South Florida health care network with conspiring to unlawfully disclose protected patient information.

According to court documents, Kenia Marrero, 46, paid Joan Navarro Bruguet, 51, a former employee of a Miami-based health care provider network, to secretly provide confidential patient information including names, dates of birth, and Medicare beneficiary identifiers. Beginning in January 2022 and continuing through February 2025, Navarro Bruguet allegedly accessed patient records, photographed patient information 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 worked with others to resell the stolen patient information for as much as $7,000 per list to individuals involved in Medicare fraud schemes. 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 fraud scheme that submitted more than $5 million in fraudulent Medicare claims using patient identifiers obtained through the conspiracy. Marrero faces multiple charges including conspiracy to buy, sell, and distribute beneficiary identifiers, 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 identifiers. This case reflects the government’s commitment to pursuing healthcare fraud at every stage of the criminal enterprise and demonstrates how stolen beneficiary information fuels broader Medicare fraud schemes that waste taxpayer dollars and compromise patient privacy.