Federal officials arrested a New York woman this week for allegedly offering and paying illegal kickbacks for $17 million in DMEPOS claims and for money laundering.
The Department of Justice Alexandra Stchastlivtseva, 52, of New York, owned several DME companies and allegedly offered and paid kickbacks and bribes to several telemedicine and marketing companies in exchange for completed doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary orthotic braces and continuous glucose monitors for Medicare beneficiaries.
Medicare paid $17.3 million based on fraudulent claims that Stchastlivtseva allegedly submitted and caused to be submitted to Medicare. The DOJ added Stchastlivtseva and others then laundered the proceeds of the kickback scheme.
An indictment filed in the District of New Jersey charged Stchastlivtseva with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to offer and pay healthcare kickbacks; five counts of offering and paying healthcare kickbacks; and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The potential penalties for the charges are sizable. If convicted, Stchastlivtseva faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and offer and pay healthcare kickbacks; 10 years in prison for each count of offering and paying healthcare kickbacks; and 10 years in prison on the count of money laundering conspiracy.
