Man Admits $13-Million Medicare Fraud

A Culver City man pleaded guilty Friday to defrauding Medicare and Medi-Cal programs of $13 million and laundering the money in banks in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Spain and Luxembourg.

Marcus Fontaine, 43, pleaded guilty to 25 counts of mail fraud and 29 counts of money laundering on the third day of his federal court trial before U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon.

Fontaine also agreed to forfeit all his assets, including $8 million in overseas bank accounts and $1 million in assets in the United States.

He admitted that between 1987 and 1990, he stole $13 million from Medicare and Medi-Cal programs by creating fake companies that purported to supply medical equipment. Fontaine billed the programs for equipment and supplies that had not been provided, or billed multiple times for the same item, according to the attorney general’s office.

Fontaine also admitted to acting as a ringleader for his wife, sister and two other individuals who carried out similar schemes that defrauded Medi-Cal of nearly $40 million, authorities said.

He is currently serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison for an $800,000 consumer mail fraud scam committed in 1986.

Fontaine, who originally fled and was later arrested in Miami, has been in custody for six years. He faces an additional two to nine years in prison for charges related to this case.

Sentencing is set for August.