A contractor with the Federal Aviation Administration pleaded guilty Friday to stealing more than $1 million through false health insurance claims, officials said.
Luis Rodriguez, 46, admitted in federal court in Washington to one count of health care fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 25 and could receive up to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Rodriguez, a Spanish national living in Bethesda, was covered under a health insurance plan run through CIGNA for his wife's employer. Prosecutors said that people covered under the plan normally pay for medical services out of pocket and then submit reimbursement claims.
From March 2006 through April 2010, Rodriguez submitted about 2,800 reimbursement claims through CIGNA. However, bills of over $1.3 million were for services that had not been provided, according to court documents. Rodriguez had received checks for over $1 million as reimbursement for the services.
When Rodriguez realized that he was being investigated, he attempted to impersonate a senior official at the Inter-American Development Bank and ordered CIGNA to tell the FBI to close the investigation, officials said.
