Cardiologist charged with Medicare, Medicaid fraud

McALLEN — FBI agents arrested a McAllen cardiologist Monday on charges he fleeced federally funded health care programs out of thousands of dollars.

Dr. Fabian Aurignac, 45, faces eight counts of Medicare and Medicaid fraud for allegedly employing unlicensed foreign doctors, billing for evaluations that never took place and conducting dozens of unnecessary medical procedures.

The criminal charges come more than a year after the Texas Medical Board suspended his medical license for similar claims and nine months after the government seized more than $1 million from his personal bank accounts.

Aurignac previously ran McAllen's Cardiology Care Center, a clinic on the 700 block of North Ware Road. He also had practicing privileges at facilities such as McAllen Medical Center, Doctors Hospital at Renaissance and Mission Regional Medical Center.

Prosecutors allege he hired several South American doctors who were not authorized to practice in the United States and told them that they would not be paid unless they examined 15 patients or more a day. He also reportedly gave them pre-signed prescriptions to hand out while he was on vacation in Italy.

Aurignac later billed Medicare and Medicaid claiming that he had conducted all of their patient visits, according to the indictment filed against him.

After losing his medical license in October 2007, Aurignac allegedly set up shop in an RV, where he peddled medical services at flea markets and adult day cares and offered Wal-Mart gift certificates to anyone who agreed to undergo unnecessary procedures, the document states.

At least one patient treated in the RV later told authorities that Aurignac never examined him but submitted claims to Medicare and Medicaid anyway.

Federal agents arrested Aurignac in Austin on Monday shortly before he was set to appear at a medical board hearing on his suspended license. It was not immediately clear if he had retained an attorney to represent him on this criminal case.

Fela B. Olivarez, the doctor's lawyer in his ongoing attempt to regain the $1.1 million seized from his bank accounts and business, did not return calls for comment.

She has previously argued in court filings that the seized funds were rightfully earned through property sales and rental homes that the doctor owns.

If convicted, Aurignac could face up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Medicare is a federally funded program offering health care assistance for individuals who are 65 and older and for the disabled. Medicaid is a federal-state program that helps pay for health care for the needy, aged, blind and disabled and for low-income families with children.

Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.