In June, U. S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne announced criminal charges against 37 defendants – including a 41-year-old man who faces charges in Scott County, Iowa – in connection with alleged schemes to unlawfully distribute controlled substances and defraud federal health care programs including Medicare and Medicaid, according to a news release from the U. S. Attorney’s Office – Southern District of Florida.
(Jacquez Tullis (Scott County Jail)
In the case of United States v. Jacquez Dion Tullis, 41, of Tamarac, Florida; Taneka Nakia Pace, 49, of Miami, Florida; and Junaque Nicole Tullis, a/k/a “Juanaque Tullis,” 44, of Coral Springs, Florida, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud financial institutions out of about $1,780,000 through the submission of fraudulent credit applications for cosmetic surgery and other medical services that were never provided.
As alleged in the indictment, the defendants created six cosmetic surgery clinics and then submitted applications on behalf of those clinics to become approved merchants with financial institutions with lending programs that provided lines of credit to individuals seeking funding for out-of-pocket medical care, treatments, and services not covered by insurance. “The defendants then used the personal identifying information of individuals without their authorization or consent to submit credit applications to those financial institutions on behalf of those individuals, falsely certifying that the clinics would provide cosmetic surgery and related medical care to them. In fact, the clinics never provided any such medical care, nor did the individuals on whose behalf the clinics submitted credit applications need or want any such treatments,” according to the U. S. Attorney’s Office – Southern District of Florida.
The defendants are also charged with individual counts of wire fraud for submitting fraudulent loan applications on behalf of the clinics and another business to the Small Business Administration for small business loans designed to provide emergency financial assistance to businesses suffering from the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. FBI Miami investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Will J. Rosenzweig is prosecuting it. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Demirci is handling asset forfeiture.
The charges were filed in the federal court and are part of the Department of Justice’s 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.
The Takedown was led and coordinated by the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and its core partners from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The cases were investigated by agents from HHS-OIG, FBI, DEA, and other federal and state law enforcement agencies. The cases are being prosecuted by Health Care Fraud Strike Force teams from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, 50 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide, and 12 State Attorneys General Offices.
A Scott County Court case continues
Earlier this year, a Florida man was in the Scott County Jail after Davenport Police say he deposited fraudulent U.S. Savings Bonds at three Davenport credit unions, Scott County arrest affidavits say.
According to the Scott County criminal complaint, officers responded to Family Credit Union, 1530 W. 53rd St. on Jan. 29 at about 12:41 p.m. After an investigation, officers learned that the defendant, identified as Jacquez Tullis, 40 of Tamarac, Fla., deposited nine fraudulent $1,000 United States Savings Bonds at three different Family Credit Union locations. Tullis is accused of depositing three fraudulent bonds at the branch at 1530 W 53rd Street on Jan. 27. On Jan. 29, he allegedly deposited three fraudulent bonds at the Family Credit Union, 1400 Rockingham Road. On Jan. 29, he deposited three fraudulent bonds at the branch at 4402 W. Locust St.
The bonds returned as “Bond not Found” in the verification system by the bank. The bonds were unevenly cut, had blurred ink in the print and were printed on different paper when compared with a legitimate United States Savings Bond at the bank. Tullis is accused of withdrawing a total of $16,660 from his account from the fraudulent bond deposits. This created a permanent loss for Family Credit Union of $16,660, according to arrest affidavits.
Tullis was arrested and charged with nine counts of felony forgery – financial institution and one felony count of first-degree theft, Scott County arrest affidavits show.
Scott County Court documents show that Tullis, by his attorney, has applied to continue a status review hearing. In support of that, Tullis says he is scheduled for a criminal matter in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida for trial at the end of this month. Tullis asks that the status review hearing be continued to Sept 2.
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