Insurance fraud

[Lord777]

According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, on November 3, 37-year-old Alexander Gulkarov, nicknamed "Little Alex", pleaded guilty to fraud with health insurance of victims of road accidents, bribes and other crimes.

The Queens-based "Kid" was arrested on January 12 last year in Miami and released two days later on $ 10 million bail with an obligation not to contact his accomplices, who were arrested on the same day in New York. Bail for his release was secured by real estate in the form of three homes in the Forest Hills area of Queens, one in the Fresh Meadows area of Queens, and two in the town of Utica in upstate New York.

As expected, he was forbidden to communicate with accomplices, leave the Southern and Eastern Counties of New York state, and hand over travel documents. He had a dozen accomplices, and they were arrested on the same day in New York, divided into two groups: the "Gulkarov Organization" from "nashi" included Roman Israilov, aka "Roman Matatov", Peter Khaimov, aka "Peter Khaimov" and Albert Aronov, a patrolman of the 83rd police station on Knickerbocker Avenue in Brooklyn. It also included 44-year-old lawyer Robert Wisnicki, who looks like he's of Polish descent, doctor Rolando Chumaceiro, who was given the Russian nickname "Chuma", and acupuncturist Marcelo Quiroga, without any nicknames. The second group, which was called the "Bradley Pierra Organization", included five, among which only one "Russian" – 56-year-old Artur Bogoraz, about whom a special conversation was held. The case is being heard by 66-year-old Judge Paul Garaufis, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush in 2008.

As Manhattan Federal Prosecutor Damian Williams said in a November 3 press release, Alexander Gulkarov was one of the leaders of a multi-faceted scheme to defraud car insurance companies, bribe hospital workers, 911 dispatchers, and others, launder hundreds of thousands of dollars, and interfere with law enforcement. This complex scam cost (its victims) more than $ 40 million, with which Gulkarov paid for a luxurious lifestyle, luxury holidays around the world, expensive food, jewelry and parties, as well as a major renovation of his three-story house in Queens worth several million dollars." This was followed by the usual assurance that the Williams prosecutor's office would not tolerate anything of the sort. In January last year, when both organizations were arrested, he explained that "the 13 defendants charged allegedly collectively committed one of the largest insurance frauds in history," and "by obtaining confidential information about victims of road accidents, they then put their health at risk with unnecessary and often painful medical procedures. to fraudulently inflate insurance companies bills" It sounded menacing and mysterious, but in fact it was a long-known and rather simple illegal profit from the "No-fault insurance" law, which in the states of New York and New Jersey obliges car insurance companies to pay for the treatment of all victims in an accident in the amount of up to 50 thousand dollars and regardless of their fault. Know-folt scams have long been a parable to the tale of how Russian-speaking immigrants break the law, even though everyone else does.

The essence of such a scam, I repeat, is simple and reliable. The provider of information about an accident – in this case, police officer Aronov, provides scammers with data of victims and addresses of the hospital where they were taken, if there was such a thing. They are visited by members of a criminal group known as "runners", who persuade or offer to receive free treatment, and then, possibly with the help of a lawyer, receive significant compensation. The doctors involved in the scam carry out such treatment under a complete and often unnecessary program, and submit bills for it to insurance companies. In this case, the prosecution argued that this scam cost about $ 100 million, and after pleading guilty, Gulkarov agreed to pay 40 million in damages and the same amount in the form of a fine, although his "organization" accounted for only $ 30 million of illegal profit, and the remaining 70 million allegedly received the "organization of Bradley Pierra".

The indictment laid out exactly how it all happened. As a police officer, Aronov had access to official computers and used this access during off-duty hours to read accident reports. According to the prosecution, he photographed more than 400 such reports on his mobile phone, which he sent to Gulkarova through a secure, that is, inaccessible to outsiders, application. The "runners" of which contacted the victims, presented themselves as employees of the city traffic inspectorate DOT (Department of Transportation) and ordered them to undergo the legally required course of treatment in specific clinics. Later, the "runners" received from 1.5 to 3 thousand dollars for each victim, on which they managed to earn. The indictment noted that Gulkarov "laundered the received profits through the bank accounts of medical clinics and pharmacies to his personal account in various ways." In particular, he asked to write him checks with an unrepresented amount, which he entered as necessary. In addition, according to the prosecutor's office, Gulkarov laundered money with the help of lawyer Robert Wisnicki through his offices Wisnicki & Associates and Wisnicki Neuhauser in Queens. Checks were issued to the accounts of these offices from clinics that treated under the No-Fault law for more than $ 150,000, although no legal assistance was provided to these clinics, and with this money Wisnicki purchased real estate for one of Gulkarov's accomplices.

The Brad Pierre Organization is accused of running five clinics, including the Center for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), while doing the same thing. One of the six was 56-year-old Arthur Bogoraz, about whom I wrote 22 years ago, when on October 1, 2011, New Yorker Arthur Bogoraz, who was arrested in Puerto Rico and charged with 61 counts of health insurance fraud, grand larceny, and theft, was brought to the Brooklyn division of the New York State Supreme Court. personal data and money laundering, of which he pleaded not guilty. A licensed pilot, Bogoraz flew to Puerto Rico from the Caribbean island resort of St. Martin on his own plane. In a statement, then-New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said that Bogoraz, 34, was engaged in scams related to the "no-fault insurance" law and from July 2006 to December 2009, Arthur Bogoraz stole more than $ 4.5 million.

Schneiderman called Bogoraz "a fraudster who came up with an extensive plan to defraud insurance companies out of millions of dollars." Artur Bogoraz himself was not a licensed doctor with the right to open a clinic, but a manager, which anyone can become. According to the prosecutor's office, he "persuaded radiologists to work with him and promised that the bills for each MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) procedure performed by them would be properly processed and received for payment to insurance companies under the know-folt law." If the doctors agreed, Bogoraz, who over the years owned several management companies in Queens and Brooklyn, used his access to their personal information and registered other radiology corporations, often without the doctors knowledge or consent. In other words, it was the same scam for which he was arrested again two decades later.

 

[Carding Forum]

As reported in the Federal Prosecutor's Office for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, Judge Paul Gardeuf handed down sentences to three Russian-speaking residents of Queens, who pleaded guilty to fraud with No-Fault insurance-a medical insurance program for victims of road accidents.

On June 20, 37-year-old Alexander Gulkarov received 12 years in prison, 44-year-old Peter Khaimov received 15 years on June 11, and 42-year-old Roman Israilov was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison on May 23. After their release, each of them is entitled to three years of supervision, and Judge Gardefe also ordered to recover $ 40 million from each of them.

In a press release, Southern District Attorney Damian Williams called the defendants " masterminds of one of the largest No-Fault scams in New York State, stealing $ 40 million through fake clinics and pharmacies. "I introduce myself as legal doctors," said Prosecutor Williams, " they used the system, prescribed treatment that was not necessary and put the health of patients in danger. This case is yet another example of our relentless legal battle against those who think they can outsmart the system, and I thank the FBI and our prosecutor's office's investigators for their outstanding work in eliminating this major fraud." As always, I can only comment that you can't say it better, because it couldn't be worse.

The last sentenced Gulkarov, nicknamed "Little Alex". He pleaded guilty on November 3, 2023, and was arrested on January 12 in Miami and released two days later on $ 10 million bail with an obligation not to contact accomplices who were arrested on the same day in New York. Bail for his release was secured by real estate in the form of three homes in the Forest Hills area of Queens, one in the Fresh Meadows area of Queens, and two in the town of Utica in upstate New York. As expected, he was forbidden to communicate with accomplices, leave the Southern and Eastern Counties of New York state, and hand over travel documents. Gulkarov's accomplices mustered an unkind dozen, they were arrested on the same day in New York, divided into two groups, and the" Gulkarov Organization "included Roman Israilov, aka "Roman Matatov", Peter Haimov, aka "Peter Haim"and Albert Aronov, a patrolman at the 83rd police station on Knickerbocker -avenue in Brooklyn. Then Prosecutor Damian Williams said in a press release that " Alexander Gulkarov was one of the leaders of a multi-faceted scheme to defraud car insurance companies, bribe hospital employees, 911 dispatchers and others, as well as launder hundreds of thousands of dollars and interfere with the work of law enforcement agencies. This complex scam cost (its victims) more than $ 40 million, with which Gulkarov paid for a luxurious lifestyle, luxury holidays around the world, expensive food, jewelry and parties, as well as a major renovation of his three-story house in Queens worth several million dollars."

Prosecutor Williams went on to explain that the defendants, then "allegedly" committed "one of the largest insurance frauds in history," and "by obtaining confidential information about victims of traffic accidents, they then put their health at risk with unnecessary and often painful medical procedures in order to fraudulently inflate insurance companies' bills." It sounded menacing and mysterious, but in fact it was a long-known and rather simple illegal profit from the "No-fault insurance" law, which in the states of New York and New Jersey obliges car insurance companies to pay for the treatment of all victims in an accident in the amount of up to 50 thousand dollars and regardless of their fault. Know-folt scams have long been a parable to the tale of how Russian-speaking immigrants break the law, even though everyone else does. The essence of such a scam, I repeat, is simple and reliable, like a garden rake. The supplier of information about the accident-in this case, the police officer Aronov, supplied the scammers with the data of the victims and the addresses of the hospital where they were taken, if there was such a thing. There, they were visited by members of a criminal group known as "runners", who persuaded or offered to receive free treatment, and then, possibly with the help of a lawyer, receive significant compensation. The doctors involved in the scam performed such treatment under a complete and often unnecessary program, and the bills for it were submitted for payment to insurance companies. In this case, the prosecution claimed that this scam cost about $ 100 million, and after pleading guilty, Gulkarov agreed to pay $ 40 million in damages and the same amount in the form of a fine, although his "organization" accounted for only $ 30 million of illegal profit.

The charge against the Gulkarov Organization detailed how the case had been handled. As a police officer, Aronov had access to official computers and used this access during off-hours, getting acquainted with reports of colleagues about road accidents. According to the prosecution, he photographed more than 400 such reports on his mobile phone, which he sent to Gulkarova through a secure, that is, inaccessible to outsiders, application. The "runners" of which contacted the victims, presented themselves as employees of the city traffic inspectorate DOT (Department of Transportation) and ordered them to undergo the legally required course of treatment in specific clinics. Later, the "runners" received from 1.5 to 3 thousand dollars for each victim, on which they managed to earn. The indictment noted that Gulkarov " laundered the received profits through the bank accounts of medical clinics and pharmacies to his personal account in various ways." In particular, he asked to write him checks with an undelivered amount, which he entered as necessary. In addition, the prosecutor's office claimed, Gulkarov laundered money with the help of lawyer Robert Wisnicki through his offices Wisnicki & Associates and Wisnicki Neuhauser in Queens. Checks were issued to the accounts of these offices from clinics that treated under the No-Fault law for more than $ 150,000, although no legal assistance was provided to these clinics., and with this money, Wisnicki purchased real estate for one of Gulkarov's accomplices.

The case notes that on April 1, 2021, the prosecutor's office, following a grand jury subpoena, requested documents from Visnitsky's firm concerning 150 thousand dollars received from Gulkarov's clinics. Having admitted his guilt, Gulkarov, along with others, confirmed that this law firm fabricated preliminary agreements (retainer agreements), as if it served these clinics. Then, in April and May 2021, Gulkarov turned to doctors who, on his orders, signed such agreements retroactively, and he paid them with Visnicki company checks. These checks, again at his command, were deposited into the accounts of clinics, from which small amounts of cash were withdrawn and transferred to Gulkarov, which was qualified by the prosecution as money laundering. In early 2022, Peter, aka Peter, Khaimov approached the owner of one of his pharmacies, who later became a "CW" witness cooperating with the prosecution. The appeal was reduced to the fact that Khaimov drove up to the house of the future " CW " in Queens and began to honk, calling him to the street. When he got out, Khaimov told him that he had heard that he had talked to the cops and advised them not to do it again, which he did not do, and in January 2023 the scammers were arrested.

It is not superfluous to recall that on December 20, 2020, the Federal Prosecutor's Office for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn announced the arrest and indictment of 37-year-old Arkady Khaimov, immigrants from Uzbekistan, and 40-year-old Peter, who was also accused of identity theft, on charges of fraud with the Medicare medical program and money laundering. and money laundering. The brothers, who live in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, owned 13 pharmacies in New York City and Long Island, according to a press release. After their arrest, they were taken to Magistrate Judge Vera Scanlon, who, due to the covid-19 time, introduced them to the charges and released Peter on $ 3 million real estate bail, and left Arkady in custody in Brooklyn federal prison MDC, he was released later on the same bail and is still listed today. in the Federal Bureau of Prisons database, but not in custody. Peter Khaimov is not in this database at all.

The prosecution alleged that the Khaimov brothers took advantage of the coronavirus pandemic and ordered Targretin Gel 1% from pharmacists, which is considered an effective treatment for skin cancer. The 23-page indictment specified that T-cell lymphoma, which is popularly called skin cancer, is a malignant tumor that affects the lymphatic system and cells of the body's immune system. In June 2000, Targretin Gel 1 % was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The use of this medication was considered necessary only if other medications do not help, but later it was not recommended in any way for the treatment of the COVID-19 virus. For the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, pharmacies were allowed to submit invoices to insurance companies and receive money for medicines, including Targretin Gel 1%, under the accelerated Emergency Override Code program without the usually required approval.

A 60-gram tube of Targretin Gel 1 % costs $30,452 at retail for cash, but Medicare members were paid for by this program. According to the investigation, Arkady and Peter Khaimov actively used it, and the demand for Targretin in their pharmacies for 9 months of the pandemic (from March to May 2020) grew from 12 thousand dollars to almost 2 million dollars a month, and together with their accomplices, they submitted false invoices for this medicine for more than a year. $ 30 million. The Federal Prosecutor's Office claimed that the drugstores of the brothers Khaim and Khaimov did not receive this medicine, were not prescribed by doctors, and were not issued on hand. The brothers allegedly laundered the money through China and Uzbekistan, and then spent it on themselves, buying real estate, jewelry and other expensive things. In August 2020, Arkady Khaimov pleaded guilty, and on May 26, 2022, federal judge Joan Azrak in Brooklyn sentenced him to 51 months in prison and ordered him to pay $ 7.2 million.

 

[Carding Forum]

A native of Central Asia was sentenced to 2.5 years for laundering millions of dollars.

It so happened that immigrants from the former USSR often appeared in the laundering of millions of dollars received from fraud in the healthcare sector, especially during the COVID period. In any case, this conclusion suggests itself when studying information from the US Department of Justice, which, apparently, actively investigates all cases of receiving financial assistance when a public health emergency was in effect in the country.

Two weeks ago, Muhiddin Kadirov, 46, of Queens, New York, was sentenced to 30 months (2.5 years) in prison for conspiring to launder millions of dollars from a healthcare fraud scheme that primarily targeted Medicare and Medicaid programs. In addition to the prison sentence, Kadirov was sentenced to three years of probation and a fine of more than $ 6 million.

Kadyrov controlled three bank accounts of shell companies opened in the name of another person, which he used to launder more than $ 6 million, including more than $ 4 million for his co-accused Nerik Ilyaev.

According to court documents, from about March 2021 to the spring of 2022, Kadyrov participated in a sophisticated money laundering network, whose members usually deposited checks from medical companies that represent the proceeds of healthcare fraud into bank accounts in New York belonging to shell companies.

The scheme looked like this: conspirators controlling shell companies usually collected cash from individuals living in the United States who wanted to transfer funds (often to Uzbekistan) through unlicensed channels. The conspirators then transferred this money, minus their commission, to the conspirators who provided the medical checks.

After that, the conspirators who controlled the shell companies usually transferred the proceeds to foreign companies to buy goods from them. Foreign companies shipped goods to importers in Uzbekistan, and the importers paid in dollars for the goods to the conspirators ' partners running shell companies. These partners in Uzbekistan then transferred the U.S. currency to the families and friends of individuals who provided the money to conspirators controlling shell companies in New York.

As part of his involvement in the money laundering network, Kadirov controlled three commercial bank accounts opened in the names of three different shell companies, which were allegedly wholesale companies. He used the accounts of shell companies to launder approximately $ 4.2 million from a Manhattan pharmacy (Apteka-1) controlled by Ilyaev, which provided fake invoices for expensive HIV medications. In the period from March 2021 to April 2022, about $ 6.9 million passed through the accounts of Kadyrov's front companies, including not only income from fraud in Apteka-1, but also deposits from other pharmacies and medical companies.

Kadyrov tried to hide his role in the money laundering scheme as much as possible, using the identity of another person who was not in the United States. When he used ATMs to access the accounts of shell companies, he covered his face to hide it from surveillance cameras and wore latex gloves. He also used a disposable phone registered in an assumed name and email address to access the accounts of shell companies and to make calls to banks about the accounts of shell companies.

The accounts of Kadyrov's shell companies were almost entirely funded by check deposits of Apteka-1 and other pharmacies. He transferred almost all the funds that passed through the accounts of shell companies abroad to companies in China, Ukraine and Russia.

The investigation was led by the FBI, the National Insurance Bureau, and the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

• Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/p...rison-laundering-millions-dollars-health-care