Fraudsters Charged with Stealing up to $100m from Medicare

Added by Monique Robinson on October 15, 2010

A number of people believed to be part of a criminal group from Armenia and America have been charged with swindling money from Medicare. The group was taken to court on Wednesday with charges of making fake medical claims of up to $100 million.

44 people from Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami and New York were charged in a federal court with creating more than 100 false medical clinics and later making claims on Medicare to treat non-existent patients.

They allegedly did this by stealing identities from patients and doctors in 25 different states.

There is still no word of three of the suspects who somehow escaped the hand of justice.

Medicare, which offers medical insurance for the elderly who’ve hit the age of 65 and above exposed the fake clinics and shut them down within few months.

Authorities however said that up to $35 million had already been stolen and transferred to the group’s Mirzoyan- Terdjanian Organization accounts in other countries.

Preet Bharara, Manhattan U.S. attorney said that the Armenian-American group is really good at swindling money and even the Mafia has nothing on them. He also said that with phony patients, a phony office and a phony doctor, the group could easily swindle money from Medicare.