Innovative Communication Services for the Deaf

How Low is this...

A Miami Lakes-based company is among seven nationwide named in indictments against 26 people charged with stealing millions of dollars from a program designed to help the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

The group was charged with defrauding the Federal Communications Commission by submitting false and fraudulent claims for voice relay service (VRS) calls. The FCC reimbursed the defendants at a rate of about $390 an hour, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

According to the indictment, Innovative Communication Services for the Deaf Corp. (ICSD) in Miami Lakes operated VRS call centers that generated and processed a large number of fraudulent VRS calls.

The indictment also alleges that ICSD owners and employees engaged in sham "marketing calls" fraudulently generating additional VRS minutes.

ICSD’s co-owners, identified as Yosbel Buscaron, 25, and Lazaro Fernandez, 35, both of Hialeah; ICSD call center manager Wanda Hutchinson, 35, of Pembroke Pines; ICSD call center manager Jessica Bacallo, 23, of Miami; and ICSD marketing manager Kathleen Valle, 23, of Miami; have been charged in a six-count indictment with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and to submit false claims, submitting false claims, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud.