How great is Medicaid? The federal insurance program helps Americans who have lower incomes with their medical costs, regardless of their ages. Covered by Medicaid are areas that aren’t usually covered by Medicare. These include such services as nursing home care and personal care services. Medicaid is known to provide free health insurance to approximately 23 percent of low-income and disabled Americans. That’s roughly 74 million people.
Needless to say, many Americans rely on Medicaid and are very grateful for its assistance. Then again, there are some who see Medicaid as a target for get-rich-quick schemes. 49 year-old, Ramil Mansourov of Norwalk, Connecticut is one such individual.
As reported by Zak Failla of Greenwich Daily Voice this week, the former owner and operator of Family Urgent Health Care has been sentenced to 87 months in prison for fraudulently billing Medicaid for nearly $5 million.
Mansourov is a former Fairfield County doctor.
On July 13, 2017, Mansourov was arrested while attempting to flee the country for Canada. On September 17, 2018, he pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud and one count of money laundering. The money he received from defrauding Medicaid was hidden in a Swiss bank account. He kept it there before attempting to flee the country.
Following his 87-month prison sentence, Mansourov will also endure three years of supervised release. He has also been ordered to pay $4,994,027 in restitution, forfeit $50,000 and surrender his federal controlled substances registration to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Mansourov carried out his crimes throughout a two-year span. “From 2014 through November 2016, Mansourov billed Medicaid $4,994,027 for home, office and nursing home visits that never took place,” explains Failla, “During that time, Mansourov transferred some of the stolen funds to a bank account in Switzerland, then moved more than $1.3 million from that account to several domestic bank accounts, which were used for both personal and business expenses.”
Mansourov’s co-conspirator was Bharat Patel.
In 2012, Patel sold Mansourov the Family Urgent Health Care clinic. It was known as Immediate Health Care at the time. Patel continued to work for Mansourov after the sale and name change. He has since pleaded guilty to narcotics distribution and health care fraud offenses, admitting that he wrote hundreds of medically unnecessary prescriptions for oxycodone and hydrocodone. For his role in the scheme, Patel received $158,523.95 from federal health programs.
On Patch.com, Alfred Branch covers this case. He notes that Mansourov’s sentencing was announced by United States Attorney John H. Durham. In the article, Durham highlights the fact that Mansourov billed Medicaid nearly $5 million for home, office and nursing home visits that never occurred. “The investigation revealed that Mansourov used the stolen funds for both personal and business purposes,” Durham is quoted as revealing.
Are you an attorney who is currently trying a health care fraud case?
If so, please don’t hesitate to contact the Allegiant Experts team to find out how our clinical expertise may help your case. Our experts have been providing expert clinical services for almost twenty years. Give us a call at 407-217-5831 or email us at info@allegiantexperts.com.