UK Today News: US Medicare Scam – Armenian-Americans Charged In Health Insurance Fraud Case
USA has experienced a big medical insurance scandal, in which the U.S authorities have charged around 73 people for fraud. The medicare scam involves people from the Armenian-American criminal syndicate.
BBC reports that the people involved are said to be Armenian gangsters, who went to the extent of setting up fake clinics after making good use of stolen identities. The gang set up almost 118 clinics all over USA and most of them did not even have physical existence.
Preet Bharar, US Attorney revealed, “The group, most of whom are of Armenian origin, are accused of setting up some 118 clinics across the US, most of which existed only on paper or were “nothing more than shams, shells, and storefronts.”
He further added, “They allegedly stole the identities of real doctors and beneficiaries of Medicare – the US federal insurance programme for the elderly – and “submitted bill after bill for treatment that no doctor ever performed and that no patient ever received.”
The accused have been arrested during raids in New York City, Los Angeles, New Mexico, Georgia and Ohio. The 73 accused have been charged for racketeering and offences related to it. Reports state that the scam comprises of more than 100 fake medical clinics which have reportedly filed around $100 million in false claims to avail of the benefits of the government’s health insurance program.
