Russian-speaking doctors from New York stole $ 38 million through Medicare and Medicaid

A jury has convicted a man whom prosecutors have called the "architect" of major healthcare fraud, which resulted in fraudsters earning $ 38 million in fake Medicare and Medicaid insurance claims. Writes about this New York Post.

Фото: Depositphotos

44-year-old Alexander Pikus, who managed medical clinics in Brooklyn and Queens (New York), was convicted of money laundering and a conspiracy to get kickbacks in the healthcare sector.

Between 2008 and 2016, Pikus and his circle of four other scammers billed the government $86 million through phony companies claiming to provide consulting and marketing services. The scheme netted the scammers $38 million in refunds.

Pikus was the only one who tried to fight the charges in court. The other defendants - Malvina Yablonskaya, Maxim Vernik, Denis Satyr and Mark Tsivin - all admitted their guilt before the trial.

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The fraudster referred patients to clinics where other defendants worked and collected illegal kickbacks from payments to Medicare and Medicaid for services that patients did not actually receive. Scammers also paid bribes to drivers of emergency vehicles to deliver patients to the clinics they needed, and gave cash to patients to encourage them to sign consent to undergo medically unnecessary tests.

“Picus’s schemes involved kickbacks and money laundering that ultimately ended up in the pockets of the defendant and his co-conspirators through Medicare and Medicaid,” said U.S. Attorney Richard Donohue.

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Aaron Rubin, Picos's lawyer, said he would appeal the conviction, but refused to let him know what issues he would raise in the appeal.

“We are confident that this will result in the indictment being overturned,” Rubin said.

The sentence to Pikus should be pronounced on 8 of April; he faces up to 70 years of imprisonment.

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