A New York woman was arrested today for allegedly offering and paying illegal health care kickbacks and money laundering.
According to court documents, Alexandra Stchastlivtseva, 52, of New York, owned several durable medical equipment companies. Stchastlivtseva allegedly offered and paid kickbacks and bribes to several purported telemedicine companies and marketing companies in exchange for completed doctors’ orders of medically unnecessary orthotic braces and continuous glucose monitors for Medicare beneficiaries. Stchastlivtseva and her co-conspirators allegedly concealed the fraud by entering into sham contracts and producing false invoices characterizing the kickbacks and bribes as payments for “marketing.” In total, Medicare paid more than $17.3 million based on false and fraudulent claims that Stchastlivtseva allegedly submitted and caused to be submitted to Medicare. Stchastlivtseva and others then laundered the proceeds of the kickback scheme.
Stchastlivtseva is charged in an indictment filed in the District of New Jersey with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to offer and pay health care kickbacks, five counts of offering and paying health care kickbacks, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She is scheduled for her initial court appearance today. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and offer and pay health care kickbacks, ten years in prison on each count of offering and paying health care kickbacks, and ten years in prison on the count of money laundering conspiracy. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division, Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll of the FBI New York Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Susan Frisco of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.
The FBI and HHS-OIG are investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Darren C. Halverson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting 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, comprised of 15 strike forces operating in 24 federal districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
