73 Arrested in Large Scale Medicare Fraud Operation

This week, new sources have said that a vast network of Armenian gangsters and their associates were placed under arrest for Medicare fraud.

Allegedly, the organized crime group was able to defraud Medicare out of $163 million. The group used phantom health clinics and other illegal means to cheat the Medicare system in the largest fraud in the program's entire history.  Federal prosecutors charge 73 people in New York, New Mexico, Georgia, Ohio and lost Angeles.

Prosecutors say that, "The operation was under the protection of an Armenian crime boss, known in the former Soviet Union as a "vor.""

The boss, Armen Kazarian, was reported to be in police custody in Los Angeles. It is the first time that he has been charged in a racketeering case in the United States. Police began investigating after 2,900 Medicare patients in upstate New York claim they have personal information stolen including birthdates and Social Security numbers.

Officers say the victims names were used to submit fake bills for health care that was never given. In the state of New York, over $100 million in false medical bills were submitted.

Charged with fraud?  Contact us to speak with a Riverside criminal defense attorney.