Marieva Briceno, a native of Venezuela and former owner of three medical clinics in Detroit, has been stripped of her U.S. citizenship after the Justice Department secured her denaturalization on November 17. The action follows her conviction for defrauding Medicare out of more than $5.4 million by submitting false claims for unnecessary medical procedures between May 2007 and January 2010.
Briceno and her associates paid Medicare recipients to undergo unwarranted tests and then billed the government program for these services. While Medicare ultimately paid nearly $3 million on these fraudulent claims, Briceno personally received over $500,000 from the scheme.
“The denaturalization of Marieva Briceno shows that if you steal from the programs that serve our most vulnerable citizens, you will be found out, prosecuted, and suffer the consequences of your actions, up to and including the loss of your U.S. citizenship,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida stated: “American citizenship is a privilege built on honesty and respect for our laws. You cannot defraud Medicare, conceal your crimes, and expect to secure the benefits of citizenship. Fraud against programs that serve our most vulnerable citizens and lies told to obtain naturalization undermine the integrity of both our healthcare system and our immigration process. Our Office will continue to protect taxpayer dollars, defend the rule of law, and ensure that U.S. citizenship is reserved for those who earn it lawfully.”
According to court documents, Briceno applied for U.S. citizenship in December 2009 while concealing her involvement in health care fraud on both her application forms and during interviews with immigration officials. She obtained citizenship in March 2010 under false pretenses.
In September 2011, she was charged with health care fraud by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida under federal statutes relating to health care fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1347) and conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 1349). Briceno pleaded guilty to conspiracy in March 2012 and was sentenced to five years in prison.
The Justice Department filed a complaint seeking denaturalization in August this year based on her criminal conduct and misrepresentations during naturalization proceedings. On November 17, Judge Darrin Gayles ordered revocation of Briceno’s citizenship.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy Chief Hans H. Chen from the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation with support from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), ICE’s legal office, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Feeley for the Southern District of Florida.
