A Florida health care administrator accepted bribes in exchange for helping a nursing home owner accused of orchestrating a $1 billion Medicare and Medicaid fraud scheme keep his license, federal prosecutors said. Bertha Blanco, 66, faces federal criminal charges in a wide-ranging investigation that federal authorities are calling the nation's biggest health fraud case, The Miami Herald reported . Blanco, a 29-year veteran of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, is the first of its employees ever to be charged with taking bribes, the newspaper reported. Esformes is accused of using his 20 nursing facilities to file false Medicare and Medicaid claims for services that were not necessary for 14,000 patients. Prosecutors said his health care network and other co-conspirators billed $1 billion for fraudulent services between 2009 and 2016.

Source: ABC News July 29, 2017 15:38 UTC