Los Angeles Area Health Care Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Medical Identity Theft and Medicare Fraud

Los Angeles Area Health Care Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Medical
Identity Theft and Medicare Fraud


Last update: 6:41 p.m. EDT Oct. 16, 2008
WASHINGTON, Oct 16, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ --
A La Crescenta man pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges of
defrauding Medicare by using patients' Medicare identification numbers
without their knowledge, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the
Criminal Division Matthew Friedrich and U.S. Attorney for the Central
District of California Thomas P. O'Brien announced. Between August
2003 and April 2008, Melkon Gabriyelyan, 51, billed the Medicare
program for more than $1,640,000.

Gabriyelyan pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft
and one count of health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Manuel
L. Real in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Judge Real scheduled Gabriyelyan's sentencing for Jan. 12, 2009. At
sentencing, Gabriyelyan faces a maximum term of 12 years in prison for
his crimes.

According to the plea agreement, Gabriyelyan admitted owning and
operating TA Medical Supply, a durable medical equipment (DME) company
located in the Tujunga area of Los Angeles. In his plea agreement,
Gabriyelyan acknowledged that beginning in January 2004 he
fraudulently billed Medicare for DME purportedly supplied to Medicare
beneficiaries. Gabriyelyan submitted false claims to Medicare for
orthotic braces, power wheelchairs and other DME that were not
delivered to
Medicare beneficiaries, were not prescribed by the physicians listed
on the claims that he made or were not medically necessary.
Gabriyelyan also acknowledged in the plea agreement that to accomplish
the fraud he knowingly and willfully stole the identity of a Medicare
beneficiary for the purpose of submitting false claims. He admitted
billing a back brace and two knee braces that the beneficiary did not
need or receive, and that the patient had no knowledge of. In
addition, Gabriyelyan admitted that he created a patient file for this
beneficiary that contained a delivery slip with the beneficiary's
forged signature.

"Medical identity theft is a growing problem that poses significant
harm to both the Medicare program and the patients whose personal
information is stolen," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew
Friedrich. "The Department will continue fighting to protect the
rights of Medicare patients as well as prosecuting individuals who
defraud the Medicare program."

"Medical identity theft is a striking example of the kind of fraud we
are combating in the Los Angeles area. One new weapon in our arsenal
is our Strike Force operations, which seek not only to protect
American taxpayers from Medicare fraud, but protect the private and
personal information of all patients," said U.S. Attorney Thomas P.
O'Brien.

Gabriyelyan was arrested in May 2008 following an investigation by the
Medicare Fraud Strike Force (MFSF). The MFSF is a multi-agency team of
federal, state and local prosecutors and agents designed to combat
Medicare fraud. Strike force operations began in the Los Angeles area
on March 1, 2008. The MFSF is led by the Criminal Division's Fraud
Section in Washington, D.C., and the office of U.S. Attorney Thomas P.
O'Brien of the Central District of California. Since the inception of
MFSF operations in 2007, federal prosecutors have indicted 104 cases
with 184 defendants in both Los Angeles and Miami. Collectively, these
defendants fraudulently billed the Medicare program for more than half
a billion dollars.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret L.
Carter, and is being investigated by the FBI; the Department of Health
and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General; the California
Department of Justice; the Bureau of Medical Fraud and Elder Abuse;
and the Los Angeles County Health Authority Law Enforcement Task
Force.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice
http://www.USDOJ.gov


http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/los-angeles-area-health-care/story.aspx?guid=%7BA7785295-E478-44FF-92E9-65CBA6FAB78E%7D&dist=hppr
.

Relevant Pages

  • Do the American people know that Medicare and Medicaid fraud alone amounts to $60 billion to $90 bil
    ... Outright theft by doctors, hospitals and others in the health care ... As the generational wave of baby boomers flows into the Medicare ... Medicare fraud will continue to account for the highest drain on ...
    (talk.politics.medicine)
  • Medicare fraud
    ... nationwide takedown by Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in eight ... cities has resulted in charges against 91 defendants, ... Aug. 24, 2011, for their roles in a separate $2 million health care ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Medicare crooks find safe haven in Cuba
    ... Medicare fraud Medicare fraud fugitives ... South Florida is known as the capital of Medicare fraud, but increasingly Cuba is where the scammers go to avoid prosecution. ... As Medicare crime spreads across South Florida, accused scammers are escaping in droves to Cuba and other Latin American countries to avoid prosecution — with more than 150 fugitives now wanted for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the U.S. healthcare program, according to the FBI and court records. ...
    (soc.culture.cuba)
  • Medicare Fraud: A $60 Billion Crime
    ... Medicare Fraud: A $60 Billion Crime. ... most profitable, crimes in America. ... FBI Special Agent Brian Waterman, who 60 Minutes rode with for several ...
    (sci.med.nursing)
  • Medicare fraud: Types of Medicare fraud
    ... Medicare fraud: Types of Medicare fraud ... 2011 Medicare Fraud Strike Task Force Charges ... including doctors, nurses, health care company owners and executives" ...
    (alt.politics.bush)