A Cuban woman already convicted in connection with a $4.6 million healthcare fraud conspiracy has been found guilty of unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship, authorities said.
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Tania Rosa Rodriguez, 57, was found guilty of one count of unlawful procurement of citizenship or naturalization, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said Wednesday.
Prosecutors said Rodriguez, a Cuban national, had applied to become a U.S. citizen in 2017 and was granted citizenship in 2018.
On her application, she stated she had never committed a crime for which she had not been arrested, but authorities discovered she had been participating in the healthcare fraud conspiracy before she applied and after she became a citizen, authorities said.
Rodriguez was later convicted in federal court for her role in the seven-year conspiracy, which resulted in approximately $4.6 million in fraudulent healthcare claims, prosecutors said.
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The criminal conduct was “knowingly concealed” by Rodriguez during the naturalization process, authorities said.
Rodriguez now faces up to 10 years in federal prison at sentencing for the citizenship charge.
“American citizenship cannot be lawfully obtained through fraud and concealment,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement. “While participating in a multi-million-dollar healthcare fraud conspiracy, this defendant sought U.S. citizenship and concealed her criminal conduct from the government. A federal jury has now held her accountable. Our Office will vigorously enforce the laws that protect the integrity of our immigration and naturalization system.”
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