Mt. Juliet Woman Sentenced for Long-Running Theft from Federal Health Care and Disability Programs

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Tennessee

NASHVILLE – Cathleen Caraballo, 48, of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, was sentenced to serve 37 months in federal prison and to pay $575,855.09 in restitution earlier today, announced Henry C. Leventis, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Caraballo previously pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud, health care fraud, and false statement charges. Her crimes stemmed from a long-running identity theft scheme through which Caraballo used a stolen identity to apply for and to obtain government benefits from two government programs, Social Security and Medicare. “This sentence holds the defendant accountable for stealing money from taxpayers and lining her pockets with funds intended for those who rely on Medicare and Social Security,” said United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis. “I commend our law enforcement partners for their tireless efforts to end the defendant’s scheme and to bring her to justice.”

Court documents show that Caraballo fraudulently obtained a state-issued driver’s license using a victim’s name and information, but with Caraballo’s picture. Caraballo then held herself out as the victim. In 2009, Caraballo submitted forms to the Social Security Administration purporting to be the victim and began receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments in the victim’s name. After receiving SSDI benefits for a year, Caraballo was approved to receive Medicare benefits, and Medicare began paying Caraballo’s health care expenses based on Caraballo’s false claims. For more than a decade, Caraballo received SSDI payments and Medicare paid health care expenses to which she was not entitled. Caraballo’s identity theft scheme began to come to light in 2019, when the victim attempted to apply for government benefits under her own name.

When she was approached by law enforcement investigators, Caraballo lied about her true identity, presented the investigators with fraudulent documents in an attempt to mask the stolen identity, and signed a statement affirming that she was the victim. Following further investigation by law enforcement, Caraballo was confronted by agents and admitted to carrying out the fraud scheme for over a decade. As a result of the scheme, Caraballo obtained $152,913.20 in SSDI payments from the Social Security Administration, and Medicare made payments for Caraballo’s health care in the amount of $422,941.89. As part of her plea agreement, Caraballo agreed to pay restitution of these amounts.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, and U.S. Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Chris Suedekum prosecuted the case.