A federal court in the Southern District of Florida has issued a permanent injunction against Miami-area tax return preparer Aniel Saint-Hilaire. The order bars Saint-Hilaire from preparing tax returns, advising others on tax preparation, investing in or receiving fees from a tax preparation business, and working in or consulting with any such business.

A federal jury in the Middle District of Florida convicted Sophie Dufort, 57, of Gainesville, for her role in a scheme that submitted over $8.6 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare.

Dufort owned one durable medical equipment company and managed several others. She conspired with Paula Pirone, 70, of Ocala, and others to bill Medicare for orthotic braces using fake or forged doctors' prescriptions. Marketing companies made high-pressure telemarketing calls to obtain Medicare beneficiaries' information, and one co-conspirator acknowledged that calls from overseas were faked to justify bogus prescriptions. Medical practitioners were paid to sign prescriptions without examining patients, or doctors' credentials were stolen to create forged prescriptions.

Braces were shipped to beneficiaries who did not want or need them. When people tried to return the braces, co-conspirators told them to discard or pass them along to avoid repaying Medicare. A medical expert testified the brace comb