TribBlog: Tara Rios Ybarra in Federal Custody

The federal government's roundup of dentists for Medicaid fraud in South Texas has claimed its latest casualty: outgoing state Rep. Tara Rios Ybarra.

The South Padre Democrat is currently in federal custody, after being charged with three counts of making payments to a non-licensed physician. The felony charges come from her alleged involvement in a kickback scheme led by McAllen oral surgeon Gary Morgan Schwarz, who's accused of paying four Valley dentists — one of them Ybarra— to refer him Medicaid patients. Schwarz was also indicted for allegedly submitting fraudulent Medicaid claims, including some for services he never carried ...

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