Six individuals who were accused of commuting Medicare Fraud in Pompano Beach and other areas around Southern Florida have plead guilty in order to receive reduced sentences.

The defendants, as well as 4 more individuals yet to face a trial, were charged in September for allegedly provided patients for a Miami Company named Therapeutic Corp. While operating Assisted Living Facilities and half-way houses, the ten individuals were accused of receiving kickbacks for each patient they supplied to Therapeutic Corp.

One defendant, Ramchand Ramrup, had received numerous unrelated state citations for his Palm Beach assisted living facility. While he was the manager of Boynton Beach Assisted Living Facility, Ramrup recieved $40 a day for each patient he sent to Therapeutic Corp, which amounted to almost $1 Million in fraudulent Medicare charges from Boynton Beach Assisted Living Facility alone.

Isabel Roque, who was a patient recruiter at American Therapeutic was responsible for almost $4 million in fraudulent claims, for a similar patient scam.

In total, Therapeutic Corp received around $80 million from Medicare in the past 10 years, mostly for group therapy. The owners of Therapeutic Corp, Lawrence Duran and Marianella Valera, plead guilty to Medicare Fraud Charges earlier this year and were sentenced to 50 and 35 years in prison respectively. The charges alleged over $200 million in fraudulent Medicare Claims.

According to Federal Prosecutors, the patients supplied by companies like Boynton Beach Assisted Living Facility and American Therapeutic often received treatments for mental disorders they did not have, like Bipolar disease, while their real disorders were left untreated.

Armando Chavez, a 42 year old Houston doctor, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for Medicare Fraud. Chavez, the owner of Chavez Medical Group, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud. He was sentenced yesterday, 11/16/2011, in Federal Court.

During 2005 and 2007, authorities contend that Chavez billed Medicare and Medicaid around $14 million, much of which was for unneeded treatments or services that were un-grouped, in order to get the most benefit. He was paid around $4 Million.

In addition to pleading guilty without trial, Chavez also voluntarily gave up his license to practice medicine in Texas, which he received over 10 years ago.

In 2005, which is when the fraud is contended to have begun, he began performing laser ablation, which is often used to repair varicose veins. According to US Prosecutors, he often over reported the number of varicose veins repaired in the leg. By un-grouping the treatment codes, he also more than doubled his payments for many types of treatments.

Chavez is currently free, but will need to surrender to authorities shortly to begin his almost 6 year prison sentence.

Maksim Shelikhov, a 27 year old medical worker, was arrested at Kennedy Airport, as he returned from Canada this week.

Shelikhov, who was part of the 12 people charged in New York last week, had remained at large since the indictments were unsealed. He is accused of money laundering and health care fraud.

His mother, Irina Shelikhova, is still wanted and has not been arrested yet.

The investigation into the clinics owned by Dr. Gustave Drivas was ongoing between 2005 and 2010. During this time, it is alleged that workers at the clinic submitted bills to Medicare for treatments that did not occur or provided kickbacks to patients who accepted unneeded treatments.

During this time, they billed Medicare for at least $71 million and received around $47 million as payments.

Hidden cameras and microphones were used to catch workers at Bay Medical Care, SZS Medical Care, and SVS Wellcare Medical as they allegedly bribed patients. These health care providers offered allergy, physical, and nerve therapies.

Drivas, who was the owner or a major partner at all offices, as well as being a primary care physician, is accused of being the ring leader. The federal government is seeking to seize the properties involved, as well as individual bank accounts and residences.

A man named Kesmond L. Wilson from Polk County Florida, which is near Tampa Bay, was recently arrested after an investigation into over seventy false claims to Medicare.

Wilson, who was already on probation, was found hiding in an attic of his grandmother when authorities came to arrest him on charges of probation violation.

Charges of Medicare fraud are expected, as well as an extradition, as Wilson purchased a medical clinic last month using a bad check. Shortly after purchasing the Medical Clinic, which was owned by Dr. Leo Yason, Wilson used the patient records he acquired to submit numerous fraudulent claims to Medicare. In total, there were at least 74 claims submitted

Wilson told Yason that he was part of Wilson Group Billing Claims Health Care Management LLC and sent a check for around $7000 to Yason about a month after purchasing his health care practice.

However, Yason became suspicious when he was contacted by the makers of software used for patient billing. Wilson had contacted the company, asking for an explanation of how to use the software to submit claims to Medicare. Wilson also requested that the company not contact Yason, but this raised red-flags with the software makers, who called to check with Yason.

Yason was still working at the office, which was part of the agreement, but shortly after taking ownership, Wilson changed the locks on the mailboxes. Wilson’s sister is also involved, although she has not formerly been charged and is only wanted for questioning at the present time. She is alleged to have been involved with downloading patients records to her laptop, prior to the sending of the 74 fraudulent Medicare claims.

Wilson is currently being held on bail of over $200,000 and is expected to be extradited shortly on other charges of Medicare fraud, as well as most likely other charges stemming from his purchase of the medical clinic with a bad check and privacy concerns.

This week, Sardis Tadevosyan was convicted of Medicare Fraud in a federal courtroom in Charlston West Virginia. Tadevosyan, who is a 42 year old man of Armenian decent, was convicted on charges of wire fraud, identify theft, and conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Tadevosyan, who was the leader of the scheme faces the stiffest penalty, with a possible sentence of as much as 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. Tadevosyan is expected to be sentenced on January 26, while his co-conspirators are expected to be sentenced on December 01.

The trial, which took 4 days, showed that along with co-conspirators Arsen Bedzhanyan and Igor Shevchuk, a number of fake bank accounts where opened using falsified driver licenses and other information, which included citizens that had left the united states. Each man received $5000 for their efforts.

In all, the scheme is believed to have been responsible for more than four million dollars worth of falsified Medicare Claims. The investigation into this Medicare fraud scheme first began back in April of 2011, with five groups being found to be involved in this scam.