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Law360 (May 26, 2021, 7:53 PM EDT) -- A pair of Florida men were charged Tuesday in connection with an alleged $73 million COVID-19 health care kickback scheme, marking the most recent indictment in what the U.S. Department of Justice has hailed as an ongoing crackdown on pandemic-related health care fraud schemes.
In total, the DOJ says it has charged 14 people across seven federal districts for their alleged participation in health care fraud, exploiting the pandemic through more than $143 million in bogus billings.
"These medical professionals, corporate executives, and others allegedly took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to line their own pockets instead of providing needed health care services during this unprecedented time in our country," Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said in a release Wednesday.
Michael Stein and Leonel Palatnik were charged in the Southern District of Florida Tuesday, accused of exploiting pandemic-related exceptions to telehealth restrictions by offering telehealth providers access to Medicare beneficiaries for whom they could bill consultations.
In return, these providers agreed to refer beneficiaries to Palanik's laboratories for expensive and medically unnecessary cancer and cardiovascular genetic testing, prosecutors said.
On Monday, in the same district, patient brokers Juan Nava Ruiz and Eric Frank were charged in an alleged $9.3 million health care kickback scheme that involved referring Medicare beneficiaries for various forms of genetic testing that they did not need in exchange for cash.
Mark Schena, president of medical technology company Arrayit Corp., was charged in the Northern District of California last year along with two others in connection with the submission of more than $70 million in false and fraudulent claims for allergy and COVID-19 testing, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Petros Hannesyan faces charges of theft of government property and wire fraud in the Central District of California for allegedly misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars obtained from COVID-19 relief programs.
The government filed a criminal complaint against Billy Joe Taylor in Arkansas federal court last week, accusing him of scheming to defraud the government of more than $88 million, including more than $42 million in false and fraudulent claims related to COVID-19 testing and treatment.
Also last week, the DOJ charged Malena Lepetich in Louisiana federal court for an alleged $15 million scheme in which she offered to pay kickbacks for referrals of specimens for COVID-19 and respiratory pathogen testing.
Last year, Peter Khaim and Arkadiy Khaimov were charged in New York federal court in connection with an alleged $45 million health care fraud, wire fraud and money laundering scheme that involved using COVID-19 "emergency override" billing codes to circumvent restrictions on prescription drugs.
In New Jersey federal court, Dr. Alexander Baldonado was charged with six counts of health care fraud for allegedly ordering expensive and medically unnecessary genetic testing for cancer for Medicare beneficiaries who came in for what was advertised as a COVID-19 testing event.
"Approximately $2 million in claims were submitted as a result of Baldonado's COVID-19 health care fraud scheme, and approximately $17 million in claims were submitted as a result of Baldonado's broader health care fraud scheme," the DOJ said.
Also in New Jersey federal court, Donald Clarkin was charged in connection with a $5.4 million conspiracy to defraud through a kickback scheme.
"Clarkin, a partner at a diagnostic testing laboratory, allegedly exploited the pandemic by offering kickbacks in exchange for respiratory pathogen panel tests that would be improperly bundled with COVID-19 tests and billed to Medicare," the DOJ said. "Clarkin also allegedly paid and received kickbacks and bribes in exchange for arranging for the ordering of medically unnecessary genetic tests that were ineligible for Medicare reimbursement."
Representatives for the parties either did not respond requests for comment or could not be reached Wednesday.
The cases are U.S. v. Stein et al., case number 1:21-cr-20321, and U.S. v. Nava Ruiz et al., case number 9:21-cr-80080, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida; U.S. v. Khaim et al., case number 1:20-cr-00580, in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York; U.S. v. Lepetich, case number 3:21-cr-00032, in the U.S. District Court Middle District of Louisiana; U.S. v. Schena, case number 5:20-cr-00425, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California; and U.S. v. Taylor, case number 2:21-mj-02003, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Case information for the New Jersey and Central District of California cases were not immediately known Wednesday.
--Editing by Adam LoBelia.
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