Brooklyn Clinic Owner Gets 5 Years in $70M Medicare Fraud

NEW YORK, NY – Victor Lipkin, a former Brooklyn health clinic owner, received a five-year federal prison sentence last Friday for orchestrating a brazen $70 million fraud scheme against Medicare and Medicaid. The sentencing, handed down by Judge Ronnie Abrams in Manhattan federal court, marks a significant blow to a network that preyed on vulnerable individuals for profit.

The scheme, spanning from 2005 to 2014, involved Lipkin and his co-conspirators operating three clinics in Brooklyn and Queens. They systematically recruited financially disadvantaged and homeless individuals – dubbed “Phony Patients” by investigators – and subjected them to unnecessary and often performed by unlicensed personnel. These tests were then billed to Medicare and Medicaid, generating over $70 million in fraudulent claims, according to federal prosecutors.

“Victor Lipkin spearheaded a scheme that involved recruiting disadvantaged and homeless people to undergo expensive and unnecessary medical tests,” stated Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. “Lipkin and his co-defendants submitted over $70 million in bogus claims to Medicare and Medicaid, burdening those programs while enriching themselves.” Lipkin pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and health care fraud on August 3, 2016.

The operation was meticulously concealed. Lipkin and his associate, Vadim Zubkov, recruited a licensed physician to serve as a figurehead, masking their ownership of the clinics. Proceeds were laundered through shell companies, further obscuring the illicit gains. Along with Zubkov, Eduard Zavalunov, Nikoloz Chochiev, Anatoliy Fatkhov, Mariana Swaffar, Jacqueline Pinez, Jonathan Oliver, Jason Brissett, Gilbert Trotman, and Giorgi Buleishvili all played roles in the elaborate fraud.

The “Runners” – Oliver, Brissett, and Trotman – actively sought out vulnerable individuals from soup kitchens and welfare offices, coaching them to falsely claim medical necessity for the unnecessary tests. The scheme wasn’t just about financial exploitation; Chochiev allegedly resorted to threats of physical violence against those he believed owed money to the operation, demonstrating a callous disregard for human safety. Swaffar and Pinez verified insurance coverage *before* the tests, ensuring maximum fraudulent reimbursement.

This case underscores the ongoing vulnerability of federal healthcare programs to exploitation. While Lipkin has been sentenced, his co-conspirators remain under scrutiny, and the Grimy Times will continue to follow this case as further legal proceedings unfold. The five-year sentence is a start, but it doesn’t fully compensate for the millions stolen from programs meant to serve those most in need.