Accused Medicare fraudster caught trying to flee to Cuba aboard Jet Ski, prosecutors say

Source: MarketWatch

Accused Medicare fraudster caught trying to flee to Cuba aboard Jet Ski, prosecutors say

Ernesto Cruz Graveran’s passport had been seized after he was charged with allegedly stealing over $2 million from Medicare.

Published: June 14, 2022 at 5:25 p.m. ET
By Lukas I. AlpertFollow

A Florida health care executive accused in a multi-million dollar Medicare fraud has been ordered held without bail after he was caught allegedly trying to flee to Cuba aboard a Jet Ski.

Federal prosecutors say the U.S. Coast Guard caught up to Ernesto Cruz Graveran last week aboard a broken-down Jet Ski in the waters south of Key West, Fla., heading in the direction of Cuba, just 90 miles away.

Cruz Graveran was accompanied by a person prosecutors said was a known human smuggler, and that the watercraft was equipped with a special long-distance fuel cell. They were also carrying food and water supplies sufficient for a long journey, according to court documents.

“I believe it is probable that Cruz Graveran was, in fact, fleeing to Cuba aboard the Jet Ski to evade prosecution,” an agent with the Department of Homeland Security wrote in a court-filed affidavit.

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Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/accused-medicare-fraudster-caught-trying-to-flee-to-cuba-aboard-jet-ski-prosecutors-say-11655241910?mod=home-page