Medicare fraud scheme nets 3-year prison sentence for Burbank clinic owner
A Burbank woman was sentenced to 37 months in prison Monday for her participation in a scheme defrauding Medicare out of roughly $1.7 million.
Knarik Vardumyan was the owner and operator of Angeleno Clinic from 2011 to 2013. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, she and others at the clinic would prescribe unnecessary services and equipment to patients, which would then be billed to Medicare.
Often times, these services and equipment would not be provided.
Vardumyan pleaded guilty to two counts of federal healthcare fraud back in April, according to authorities.
According to court documents, employees would entice Medicare beneficiaries to come to the clinic with the promise of free food and free unnecessary medical equipment.
The employees would then take the medical and personal information of the beneficiaries, which would then be used to bill Medicare.
The scheme was done under Vardumyan’s knowledge and direction, court documents state.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said the scheme defrauded the agency out of $1,711,789.
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
