NEW YORK: US federal prosecutors charged 11 people Friday in a Russia-based scheme to bilk Medicare — the American health insurance program for the elderly and disabled — out of $10.6 billion through fraudulent billing for expensive medical equipment.
The “transnational criminal organization” orchestrated a “multi-billion-dollar health care fraud and money laundering scheme” that included purchasing dozens of medical equipment companies from prior legitimate owners to perpetrate the fraud, according to the indictment dated June 18.
More than a million Medicare recipients had their personal information stolen and used by the defendants to file for billions of dollars in claims from Medicare and its supplemental insurers, prosecutors said in the filing.
The claims were filed through medical equipment providers that the group had purchased, but no equipment was ever sent out for the payments.
Medicare paid “approximately $41 million as a result of the fraudulent submissions” and supplemental insurers are estimated to have paid out $900 million more between 2022 and 2024, prosecutors wrote.
The scheme was organized by Imam Nakhmatullaev, who is based in Russia, officials said, and managed the other defendants who were in Estonia, the Czech Republic and the United States.
The fraud was identified after “hundreds of thousands of Americans reported their concerns to Meidcare and its contractors after receiving explanation of benefit forms that reflected them purportedly receiving” equipment that they neither sought or received, the indictment said.
11 charged in Russia-based plan to defraud US health care of $10.6 billion
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11 charged in Russia-based plan to defraud US health care of $10.6 billion
- Prosecutors said the multinational crime group bought dozens of medical equipment companies from prior legitimate owners to perpetrate the fraud
- Russia-based Imam Nakhmatullaev organized the group, and got partners from Estonia, the Czech Republic and the US to run the scheme
Indonesia reaffirms Yemen’s territorial integrity, backs stability efforts amid tensions
- Statement comes after Saudi Arabia bombed a UAE weapons shipment at Yemeni port city
- Jakarta last week said it ‘appreciates’ Riyadh ‘working together’ with Yemen to restore stability
JAKARTA: Indonesia has called for respect for Yemen’s territorial integrity and commended efforts to maintain stability in the region, a day after Saudi Arabia bombed a weapons shipment from the UAE at a Yemeni port city that Riyadh said was intended for separatist forces.
Saudi Arabia carried out a “limited airstrike” at Yemen’s port city of Al-Mukalla in the southern province of Hadramout on Tuesday, following the arrival of an Emirati shipment that came amid heightened tensions linked to advances by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in the war-torn country.
In a statement issued late on Wednesday, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “appreciates further efforts by concerned parties to maintain stability and security,” particularly in the provinces of Hadramout and Al-Mahara.
“Indonesia reaffirms the importance of peaceful settlement through an inclusive and comprehensive political dialogue under the coordination of the United Nations and respecting Yemen’s legitimate government and territorial integrity,” Indonesia’s foreign affairs ministry said.
The latest statement comes after Jakarta said last week that it “appreciates the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as other relevant countries, working together with Yemeni stakeholders to de-escalate tensions and restore stability.”
Saudi Arabia leads the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, which includes the UAE and was established in 2015 to combat the Houthi rebels, who control most of northern Yemen.
Riyadh has been calling on the STC, which initially supported Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Houthi rebels, to withdraw after it launched an offensive against the Saudi-backed government troops last month, seeking an independent state in the south.
Indonesia has also urged for “all parties to exercise restraint and avoid unilateral action that could impact security conditions,” and has previously said that the rising tensions in Yemen could “further deteriorate the security situation and exacerbate the suffering” of the Yemeni people.
Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, maintains close ties with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which are its main trade and investment partners in the Middle East.
