Fugitive for 13 Years Pleads Guilty

Dr. Juan Rios Admits Engaging in Frauds

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on September 18, 2012, Dr. Juan Rios, 65, who was extradited from Peru, pled guilty in federal district court to one count of health care fraud, three counts of mail fraud, and one count of failure to appear. Rios was first indicted in December 1999. Additional charges were brought after Rios fled to Peru shortly after his indictment, forfeiting a $350,000 in cash that he had posted as bond on the original charges. At his sentencing, Rios faces up to 35 years of imprisonment and fines of up to $1.5 million, three years of mandatory supervised release, and a special assessment of $500. Sentencing has been set for January 4, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. in United States District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois.

In court today, Rios admitted fleeing the United States after he was indicted. He acknowledged that, as a Southern Illinois physician in the mid to late 1990s, he defrauded several insurance companies of over $400,000. Rios, who had medical offices in Collinsville and Bethalto, also admitted that he had submitted false bills for medical treatment and services that were not provided to his patients, while at the same time fraudulently receiving over $250,000 in personal disability payments.

The investigation was conducted by the Southern Illinois Health Care Fraud Task Force, with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the U.S. Department of Human Services-Office of Inspector General, and the Illinois State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ranley R. Killian and Michael J. Quinley.