FOUR
OWNERS OF ULTRASOUND COMPANIES SENTENCED IN MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME AT MILPITAS
MEDICAL CENTER
Defendants Billed Medicare Over $1 Million For Tests Based On Falsified
Physician's Orders
SAN JOSE - United
States Attorney Scott N. Schools announced that four defendants were sentenced
by United States District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel for perpetrating a
scheme that defrauded Medicare of over $1 million for tests that were
based on falsified physician orders that claimed the tests were performed
because they were medically necessary.
Alexander Dzhuga
of Encino, California, Leonid Dzhuga of Reseda, California, Vladimir Semenov
of Sherman Oaks, California, and Natalia Stadnik of Reseda, California,
had previously pleaded guilty on January 10, 2007 to 38 counts of health
care fraud and aiding and abetting in violation of Title 18, United States
Code, Sections 1347 and 2 .
Alexander Dzhuga,
the owner of Direct Vision, AD, Inc., was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
Leonid Dzhuga, the owner of National Diagnostic, Inc., was sentenced to
24 months in prison. Vladimir Semenov, the owner of Pulse Diagnostic Services,
Inc., was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Natalia Stadnik, the owner
of Prolink Diagnostic, Inc., was sentenced to six months of home confinement,
200 hours of community service and three years of probation. All four
defendants were additionally order to pay restitution to Medicare amounting
to $909,000.
U.S. Attorney Scott
N. Schools stated, "Medicare benefits are paid for by the public
and are meant for examinations and tests that are actually performed and
are medically necessary. The theft of those benefits by these individuals
involved in operating the Milpitas Medical Clinic, amounts to theft from
the American taxpayer and from the Medicare beneficiaries who truly need
medical treatment."
Alexander Dzhuga, Leonid Dzhuga, Vladimir Semenov and Natalia Stadnik
all previously admitted at their guilty pleas that they participated in
the scheme to defraud Medicare by knowingly submitting claims to Medicare,
while knowing that the tests they billed for were not medically necessary,
not legitimately ordered by, nor supervised by any physician, were not
performed by a certified technician or not performed at all. The four
owners of the ultrasound companies further admitted that they knew Medicare
patients had been recruited to the Milpitas Medical Clinic by promising
them free transportation, food, and medical care, along with free "milk"
or Ensure, and Chinese ointment or oil. Upon arrival at the clinic, workers
at the clinic copied the beneficiaries' Medicare cards. Other workers
held themselves out as physicians and nurses and conducted a cursory examination
of the beneficiaries. The four owners of the ultrasound companies, also
admitted that as part of the scheme to defraud Medicare, they and their
employees performed ultrasound tests on the beneficiaries on the premises
of MMC without first obtaining a legitimate physician's order based on
medical necessity. In reality, neither Tollette nor any other physician
actually examined the beneficiaries, the ultrasound test which were supposed
performed on the Medicare patients and ordered after they had already
been performed or were not medically necessary.
Richard C. Cheng is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case
with the assistance of paralegal Lauri Gomez. The prosecution is the result
of a two-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and
the Department of Health and Human Services.
Further Information:
Case #: CR 05-589-JF
A copy of this press release and related court filings may be found on
the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court
filings and further procedural and docket information are available at
https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/.
Judges' calendars
with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court's
website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to
Natalya LaBauve at (415) 436-7055 or by email at Natalya.LaBauve@usdoj.gov.
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