ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Sterling woman was sentenced to 7 years in prison for health care fraud and tax charges for operating a fraudulent sleep study clinic in Northern Virginia.
Young Yi, 44, a citizen of South Korea, defrauded Medicare, Tricare, private insurance, and the IRS of more than $10 million during the conspiracy, according to court documents and evidence presented at trial.
Yi formed the primary entities she used to commit the crimes, 1st Class Sleep Diagnostic Center and 1st Class Medical, in 2005. Using those and other entities, Yi directed her employees to solicit patients who had been referred to her clinic for legitimate sleep studies for supplemental but medically unnecessary studies.
To conceal the scheme, Yi instructed employees not to send the results of the fraudulent studies to the patients’ doctors, lied to patients by telling them they did not have to pay copays or coinsurance, and cross-billed using her different entities both to conceal the repetition from the insurance companies and to get out-of-network payments for in-network services.
In addition to the medically unnecessary sleep studies performed on patients who had been referred by doctors to 1st Class Sleep Diagnostic Center, Yi also encouraged her own employees to have sleep studies that were then billed to insurance, the evidence showed. Those included claims charged in the indictment for three employees who did not have sleep apnea but nonetheless received at least 27 sleep studies between them in less than three years.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Yi used her business bank accounts to purchase personal luxury goods and real estate that she nonetheless booked as business expenses. Those falsely booked purchases included a $25,000 Rolex watch, $10,500 in mink coats, several luxury vehicles, and a $1.1 million home in Sterling.
Young Yi, Health Care Fraud and Tax, was sentenced on February 20, 2024, in Alexandria, Virginia. Her advisory Guidelines range was enhanced for obstructing justice related to the conduct.
Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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