Hialeah City Councilwoman Angelica Pacheco suspended by DeSantis after arrest in health care fraud investigation – NBC 6 South Florida

A Hialeah city councilor has been suspended by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after she was arrested on health care fraud charges.

Angelica Pacheco was suspended by DeSantis’ executive order on Tuesday.

Pacheco, 37, turned herself in to the FBI on Thursday after being charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, five counts of health care fraud and two counts of wire fraud.

Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo issued a statement on the suspension.

“This decision is the result of the grand jury indictment of Ms. Pacheco for multimillion-dollar fraud announced last week. I want to reiterate my disappointment in Ms. Pacheco’s actions and hope to put this dark chapter for the city behind us,” Bovo wrote on X.

Pacheco, who was elected last November, was accused of improperly billing private insurers for millions of dollars for services at Florida Life Recovery and Rehabilitation, her defunct addiction treatment center.

According to the grand jury indictment, the company filed more than $19 million in false claims with several insurance companies over a three-year period.

Pacheco’s office released a lengthy statement declaring her innocence and accusing the mayor of Hialeah of being behind the allegations.

“Although these allegations do not originate from the City of Hialeah, the Councilwoman points out that the Mayor is behind them due to his extensive network of contacts. Several months ago, she was made aware by people close to the Mayor that he wanted to get rid of her and that a plan was already in motion,” the statement said.