Brooklyn Business Owner Charged in Massive $1.4 Billion Medicare Fraud Scheme

Major Medicare Fraud Bust

• 🎯 Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have charged 11 individuals in what is described as one of the largest Medicare fraud busts in history.
• 💡 The indictment includes the owner of a Brooklyn business, GNI Ortho Supply, who was previously investigated for alleged Medicare fraud.

Allegations Against GNI Ortho Supply

• 💸 GNI Ortho Supply is accused of collecting taxpayer dollars for catheters under the names of Medicare members who never requested them.
• 📄 Numerous Better Business Bureau complaints highlighted this fraudulent activity.

International Criminal Organization

• 🌐 Investigators believe the scheme was orchestrated by a criminal organization based in Eastern Europe, with its leader reportedly in Russia.
• 🇪🇪 Eight of the charged individuals are Estonian citizens, one is a US citizen, and the suspect from Brooklyn is from the Czech Republic.
• 👤 The group allegedly bought over 30 legitimate companies to facilitate the fraud.

Scale of the Fraud

• 📈 The indictment accuses the group of stealing the identities and personal information of over 1 million Americans.
• 💰 They submitted approximately $1.4 billion in bogus Medicare claims, receiving $41 million directly from Medicare and an additional $900 million from Medicare supplemental insurers.

Similar Patterns in Fraud

• 🔍 The investigation revealed a similar pattern in another Queens-based business, Almaz Med Supply, where a former owner also reported selling the company and subsequently learning about fraud complaints.
• ⚠️ While not directly connected in this indictment, the pattern suggests a similar method of operation involving the sale of businesses to conduct fraud.