Former Most-Wanted Fugitive From LI Pleads Guilty To Fraud

One of the government's most-wanted fugitives, the former owner of a medical supply company in Hicksville, pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud in court on Monday.

According to prosecutors, Etienne Allonce, the former co-owner of the Hicksville-based company Medical Solutions Management, Inc., (MSM) had fled to Haiti in 2007 after he was charged with billing Medicare and Medicaide for medical supplies that were never delivered to patients and never ordered by the company. Allonce was kicked out of Haiti in 2018 and returned to the United States. He had been on the Most Wanted list of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“With today’s guilty plea, Allonce will now pay the price for defrauding American taxpayers in order to benefit himself,” said United States Attorney William Donoghue. “The defendant’s decision to flee to Haiti may have delayed holding him accountable for his crimes, but he could not escape the resolve of this office and our law enforcement partners to prosecute those who steal from the Medicare and Medicaid benefit programs that serve our most vulnerable citizens, including the elderly.”

According to Donoghue, Allonce and his wife, Helen Michel, co-owned MSM, which provided medical equipment and supplies to nursing homes. Between April 2003 and March 2007, Allonce and Michel submitted about $10 million in false claims to Medicare and Medicaid. They were seeking payment for supplies that they claimed were given to nursing homes, when in fact they were never delivered.

Michel was tried and convicted in August 2012. In April 2013, she was sentenced to 12 years in prison and had to forfeit $1.3 million.

Allonce is facing up to 10 years in prison, as well as restitution and a fine.