Medicare Scammer Sentenced to 7 Years

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MEDICARE SCAMMER SENTENCED TO 7 YEARS

LOS ANGELES – A North Hollywood woman, Susanna Artsruni, 46, was sentenced to 76 months in federal prison for orchestrating a scheme that submitted nearly $25 million in fraudulent bills to Medicare for services and supplies that were medically unnecessary and sometimes were never provided.

Artsruni, who often used the names “Mary” and “Rose,” pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of health care fraud and one count of money laundering. In addition to the prison term, Judge Margaret M. Morrow ordered Artsruni to pay $9,624,556 in restitution to the Medicare program.

Artsruni defrauded Medicare in a number of ways, including having physician’s assistants at three Los Angeles medical clinics sign prescriptions and orders for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment and diagnostic tests that were later referred to other Medicare providers that billed for the equipment and tests.

Artsruni also caused the three clinics to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary services. Her own DME supply company, Midvalley Medical Supply in Van Nuys, fraudulently billed Medicare for medically unnecessary DME based on referrals from one of the three medical clinics.

In total, Artsruni caused more than $24.8 million in fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare, which paid more than $9.6 million on the bogus bills. Artsruni also admitted to writing checks totaling more than $35,000 from the Midvalley bank account to three corporations that had no connection to the medical industry.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and IRS – Criminal Investigation, as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion.

RELATED: $1.5M Health Care Scam Exposed