Epress.am News from Armenia
A Russian émigré told a federal jury Tuesday that he was intimidated into participating in a Medicare fraud scheme that federal prosecutors say was led by another man, the Charleston Gazette reports.
Armenian native Sargis Tadevosyan is on trial this week on federal charges of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors allege he helped create fake Medicare front companies in and around Charleston in an attempt to siphon more than $4 million from the government agency.
Earlier this year, Igor Shevchuk and Arsen Bedzhanyan, both Russian citizens living in New York, pleaded guilty to using fake IDs to open bank accounts that would receive the Medicare funds, and agreed to testify against Tadevosyan at his trial.
Lawyers for Tadevosyan have argued that little evidence in the case actually links Tadevosyan to the crime — noting in particular that Tadevosyan’s signature does not appear on any of the documents associated with the fake businesses.
Federal authorities arrested Tadevosyan, Shevchuk and Bedzhanyan in May while staking out a Dunbar bank where the trio were allegedly to make a change to one of the fraudulent accounts.
Federal investigators first became involved with the case in April, after receiving a complaint from healthcare provider AdvanceMed, US Department of Health and Human Services investigator Scott Noulett testified Tuesday.
The investigators discovered that seven companies based around Charleston had submitted thousands of Medicare claims that totaled more than $4 million. AdvanceMed flagged the claims before they were processed and issued a freeze on the bank accounts associated with the phantom companies.
The trial continues Wednesday before US District Judge John T. Copenhaver.