2 Mexican physicians get US prison terms for claims fraud

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Prosecutors in South Texas say two doctors from a family medicine clinic in Mexico must serve nearly three-year U.S. prison terms for insurance-related fraud.

Dr. Mayolo Melchor and 61-year-old Dr. Bertha Hernandez-Melchor, of Reynosa, Mexico, were sentenced Thursday by a federal judge in McAllen.

Both physicians in June pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a nearly $2.6 million insurance claim scam. Each was sentenced to 34 months behind bars and must repay the money.

Investigators say the physicians conspired with policyholders of the American Family Life Insurance Company to prepare and submit fraudulent claim forms and faked accident reports from 2001 to 2010.

Prosecutors say forms with bogus information were delivered to the family clinic in Mexico, then faxed to AFLAC headquarters in Georgia.