A New York man has been resentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay $39 million in restitution for his role in a multimillion-dollar health care kickback and tax avoidance conspiracy, after his previous sentence was vacated.
According to court documents, Aleksandr Pikus, 48, of Brooklyn, orchestrated a scheme to refer Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to health care providers at clinics in Brooklyn and Queens in exchange for illegal kickbacks. The health care providers submitted millions of dollars in false and fraudulent claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs related to these illegally procured beneficiaries. Pikus and his co-conspirators then laundered a substantial portion of the proceeds of these claims through companies they controlled, including by cashing checks at several check-cashing businesses in New York. Pikus failed to report that cash income to the IRS, instead using sham shell companies and fake invoices to conceal the transactions. He used the cash for his personal benefit and to pay kickbacks to patient recruiters who, in turn, paid beneficiaries to receive treatment at the medical clinics.
Pikus was convicted at trial in 2019, but his conviction was overturned on appeal. On remand, the district court dismissed the indictment without prejudice. Pikus was reindicted in January 2023 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to receive and pay health care kickbacks and conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the lawful functions of the IRS in May 2023.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Thomas M. Fattorusso of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) New York; and Special Agent in Charge Naomi Gruchacz of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.
IRS-CI and HHS-OIG investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Patrick J. Campbell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.
The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,400 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
Press release by DOJ.
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