Sentencing Set for L.A. Pharmacy Owners Convicted in Fraud Scheme
Sentencing Set for L.A. Pharmacy Owners Convicted in Fraud Scheme
by Contributing Editor
A Nov. 18 sentencing hearing is scheduled for two Los Angeles pharmacy owners found guilty for participating in a $35 million health care fraud and money laundering scheme to bill Medicare for medications that were never provided and to launder the illicit proceeds.
After an 11-day trial that ended late Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles, Aleksandr Suris, 51, and Maxim Sverdlov, 44, both of Sherman Oaks, were convicted of one count each of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Suris was also found guilty of one additional count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six additional counts of health care fraud. Both defendants were acquitted of three counts of healthcare fraud.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Suris and Sverdlov fraudulently billed Medicare and CIGNA for prescription medications that were not actually dispensed to beneficiaries by the pharmacy they owned, Royal Care Pharmacy, from 2012 to 2015.
In order to hide the fraud, Suris and Sverdlov obtained fake invoices from a co-conspirator to make it appear as if Royal Care had purchased the medicines it had billed Medicare for, when it had not, prosecutors said. They also used the bogus invoices to launder the proceeds of the fraud through the co-conspirator, according to the government.
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All credit goes to Contributing Editor
Originally published on https://mynewsla.com
