Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    8,399

    CA: 10 years for local man in scam

    10 years for local man in scam
    More than $7 million stolen from Medicare
    By Janette Williams, Staff Writer
    Article Launched: 12/17/2007 11:13:27 PM PST

    An Altadena man was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison and ordered to repay the more than $7 million he bilked from Medicare in an 18-month health-care referral scam.

    In July, Arthur Pilavyan, 33, pleaded guilty to health care fraud, conspiracy and money laundering for his part in what Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Farhat said was the largest case of fraud ever involving the Medicaid home health-care sector.

    Prosecutors, who called the fraud "a crime of greed and opportunity," had asked for 14 years in prison for Pilavyan but were satisfied with Judge Stephen V. Wilson's "very substantial" sentence, Farhat said.

    In pronouncing sentence, the judge said Pilavyan had "corrupted a program designed to help the poor ... and damaged millions of people who need medical and government services."

    With no background in any kind of health services, Pilavyan formed the multimillion-dollar A&L Nursing Registry in Pasadena solely "as a vehicle for his fraud," prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum presented to the court Monday.

    Starting in February 2002, prosecutors said, Pilavyan recruited Medicare recipients willing to sign up for unnecessary home health services, paid them illegal kickbacks of $100 to $400 in cash, and referred them to Provident Home Health Care Services Inc. in Eagle Rock. He would then collect payments of $1,200 up to $4,800 per person from Provident.

    Unlike Pilavyan, Provident owner Lourdes Perez cooperated with investigators from the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI from the start, Farhat said.

    Perez, who was earlier sentenced to 46 months in prison, has already repaid Medicaid about $33.8 million of a total $40 million paid to Provident and has been ordered to repay the balance, Farhat said.

    Prosecutors said the total amount Medicare paid to Perez's two companies, Provident and Tri-Regional, was about $90 million. The government believes almost all of it represented fraud.

    There were at least 75 patients and more than 1,700 Medicare claims involved in Pilavyan's A&L Nursing Registry scheme over 18 months, according to court documents.

    He laundered the payments from Perez through checks made out to other payees and "check cashers" disguised as business expenses, prosecutors said, and attempted to obstruct justice by hiding documents - including moving records from Provident to his grandmother's garage - concealing property and tampering with witnesses.

    Farhat said he was "not optimistic" that Pilavyan will reimburse Medicaid. But he said the 10-year sentence handed out will act as a deterrent to similar home-care fraud.

    "This was an area that had not seen a lot of active investigation of criminal enforcement," he said. "Home health care is not traditionally one of the areas efforts were focused on. Now that Provident is busted wide open, it's exposed a lot of fraud in this area, and investigations are ongoing."

    Pilavyan, a permanent U.S. resident, is considered a "deportable alien." He will likely be sent back to Armenia when he has served his sentence, Farhat said.

    janette.williams@sgvn.com

    (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4482

    http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_7747692
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    7,377
    If the government would investigate the fraud involved in Medicare, it probably would not be in trouble.

    This kind of thing, the mobility cart scandal, doctors gouging Medicare - it could be fixed. Our government just doesn't care.

    Unhealthy food, poison toys, fraud in government programs - you wonder what exactly we are buying with our tax dollars?
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  3. #3
    dart's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Posts
    2
    Legislators earn their claim to fame and re-election by passing laws and passing out benefits and not by running the government efficiently.

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Oregon (pronounced "ore-ee-gun")
    Posts
    8,464
    Hi dart. Welcome aboard!

    Re: your comment above - gee, ain't it the truth!
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •