Dr. Jack Voight, age 81, of Metairie, Louisiana, and Ernestine Girod,
age 47, of Gretna, Louisiana, were sentenced today by U.S. District
Court Judge Lance M. Africk for their roles in a sweeping health care
fraud scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente. Voight was
sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment followed by 13 months of home
confinement and ordered to immediately pay a $25,000 fine. Girod was
sentenced to six months in a halfway house.
On December 6 and 7,
2012, five individuals and the corporations they owned were sentenced
for their roles in the health care fraud and money laundering scheme.
Daria Litvinova, age 25, of Metairie, Louisiana, was sentenced to 20
months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Vadim
Mysak, age 25, of Kenner, Louisiana, was sentenced to 49 months’
imprisonment for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money
laundering. Two Louisiana corporations, Metairie Health Care Inc., owned
by Litvinova, and New Millennium Medical Group Inc., owned by Mysak,
were sentenced to five years’ probation for conspiracy to commit health
care fraud. Anna Aivazova, age 43, of Sherman Oaks, California, was
sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit health
care fraud. Her company, Solo Lucky, a California corporation, was
sentenced to five years’ probation for its role in the fraudulent
billing scheme. Artem Gasparyan, age 56, of Metairie, Louisiana, was
sentenced to 37 months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit health
care fraud. Aram Khlgatian, age 56, of Metairie, Louisiana, was
sentenced to 108 months’ imprisonment for health care fraud. Health Plus
Consulting Inc. and Saturn Medical Group, both Louisiana corporations,
were sentenced to five years’ probation for conspiracy to commit health
care fraud.
According to the superseding indictment, all the
defendants participated in a criminal organization for the purpose of
fraudulently billing Medicare and Medicaid. Recruiters such as Girod
found patients to bring to the indicted medical clinics for medical
tests that were not performed and not medically necessary. The clinics’
patients were moved between the various clinics and repeatedly underwent
the same unnecessary tests. According to the superseding indictment,
the doctors, including Voight, gave the patients prescriptions for
drugs, usually narcotics, for their cooperation, and the recruiters were
provided cash and prescription drugs for their services. Thereafter,
bills for the false and unnecessary services were submitted to Medicaid
and Medicare by Solo Lucky, a medical claims processing and billing
company owned by Aivazova, that worked with most of the indicted New
Orleans-area clinics. In return, Aivazova was paid a fee for each amount
billed.
Once Medicare and Medicaid paid the clinics, Mysak
conspired with another individual to engage in a series of financial
transactions designed to disguise the fact that they had obtained the
money unlawfully and hide the funds from Medicare and Medicaid. In
particular, Mysak purchased used medical equipment on behalf of the
medical clinics from a California medical equipment company. The prices
Mysak paid for the used medical equipment was significantly more than
the value of the medical equipment. Often brand new medical equipment
could have been purchased for much less than Mysak and the medical
clinics paid for the used equipment. Mysak also paid exorbitant repair
fees to supposedly repair the already outdated equipment when the
repairs never actually happened. In total, the clinics, through Mysak
and others, paid the California co-conspirator more than $2,700,000
between January 2009 and April 2011.
All the defendants were
ordered to pay restitution to Medicare and Medicaid for all money they
received in the fraudulent scheme totaling more than $9 million.
“The
integrity of Medicare and Medicaid payments is a priority of the
Department of Justice,” said U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente. “This office
will continue its vigilant investigations and prosecutions of those who
attempt to defraud the health care system.”
“This aggressive
multi-agency effort has dismantled a significant health care fraud
operation and sends a clear message to those who rob taxpayer dollars
and exploit vulnerable residents that depend on Medicaid and Medicare
for care,” added Louisiana State Attorney General Buddy Caldwell.
Sentencing
on Dr. Jerry Haskin and Dr. Yelena Ivanova, two other physicians
involved in the scheme, is schedule for January 24, 2013.
The
investigation was conducted by special agents of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office
of Inspector General; and the Louisiana Department of Justice, Medicaid
Fraud Control Unit. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Patrice Harris Sullivan, G. Dall Kammer, Jordan Ginsberg, and
Juliana Etland.
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