Los Angeles, California - The former owner and operator of three medical clinics located in Los Angeles was sentenced today to 78 months in prison for his role in a scheme that submitted more than $4.5 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker of the Central District of California, Assistant Director in Charge David Bowdich of the FBI’s Los Angeles Division and Special Agent in Charge Chris Schrank of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Los Angeles Region made the announcement.
Hovik Simitian, 48, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud on Aug. 18, 2015, and was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell of the Central District of California, who also ordered Simitian to pay $1,668,559 in restitution to Medicare.
Simitian owned and operated Columbia Medical Group Inc., Life Care Medical Clinic and Safe Health Medical Clinic, three medical clinics in Los Angeles. In connection with his guilty plea, Simitian admitted that from approximately February 2010 through June 2014, he and his co-conspirators paid illegal cash kickbacks to patient recruiters who brought Medicare beneficiaries to the clinics. Simitian also admitted that he and his co-conspirators then billed Medicare for lab tests and other services that were not medically necessary or were not actually provided to the Medicare beneficiaries, which they supported with false documentation they created. Simitian admitted that he submitted a total of $4,526,791 in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicare paid $1,668,559 on those claims.
The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California. Trial Attorneys Blanca Quintero and Alexander F. Porter of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged over 2,300 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for over $7 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.
