A La Crescenta man pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges of defrauding Medicare by using patients’ Medicare identification numbers without their knowledge, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Matthew Friedrich and U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Thomas P. O’Brien announced. Between August 2003 and April 2008, Melkon Gabriyelyan, 51, billed the Medicare program for more than $1,640,000.
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According to the plea agreement, Gabriyelyan admitted owning and operating TA Medical Supply, a durable medical equipment (DME) company located in the Tujunga area of Los Angeles. In his plea agreement, Gabriyelyan acknowledged that beginning in January 2004 he fraudulently billed Medicare for DME purportedly supplied to Medicare beneficiaries. Gabriyelyan submitted false claims to Medicare for orthotic braces, power wheelchairs and other DME that were not delivered to Medicare beneficiaries, were not prescribed by the physicians listed on the claims that he made or were not medically necessary.
Gabriyelyan also acknowledged in the plea agreement that to accomplish the fraud he knowingly and willfully stole the identity of a Medicare beneficiary for the purpose of submitting false claims. He admitted billing a back brace and two knee braces that the beneficiary did not need or receive, and that the patient had no knowledge of. In addition, Gabriyelyan admitted that he created a patient file for this beneficiary that contained a delivery slip with the beneficiary’s forged signature.
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