A Los Angeles man who was the owner of a medical supply company was sentenced to 60 months in prison for his role in a scheme that fraudulently billed more than $4 million to Medicare.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker of the Central District of California, Assistant Director in Charge Deirdre L. Fike of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Christian Schrank of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General's (HHS-OIG) Los Angeles Region made the announcement.

Valery Bogomolny, 44, was convicted of six counts of health care fraud following a jury trial on Nov. 6, 2015, before U.S. District Court Judge S. James Otero of the Central District of California.  In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Otero ordered Bogomolny to pay $1,266,860.03 in restitution.

According to evidence presented at trial, between January 2006 and October 2009, Bogomolny used his company, Royal Medical Supply, to bill Medicare $4 million for power wheelchairs (PWCs), back braces and knee braces that were medically unnecessary, not provided to beneficiaries or both.  The evidence further showed that Bogomolny created false documentation to support his false billing claims, including creating fake reports of home assessments that never occurred.  PWCs were delivered to beneficiaries who were able to walk without assistance and Bogomolny signed documents stating that he had delivered equipment when, in fact, the equipment was not actually delivered.

The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division's Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Central District of California.  Fraud Section Trial Attorneys Ritesh Srivastava and Claire Yan are prosecuting the case.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged over 2,900 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for over $10 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go towww.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

Criminal Division Criminal Fraud USAO – California, Central

Topic: Healthcare Fraud Updated October 6, 2016

Central District of California DOJ / 16-1171 / October 5, 2016