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73 Indicted in 2010 Organized Crime Health Care Fraud Cases Alleging More Than $163 Million in Billing

The Justice Department’s October 2010 announcement charged 73 defendants across five districts, alleging more than $163 million in fraudulent billing. The New York and Ohio case figures, and later guilty pleas, had distinct scopes.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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On October 13, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice announced indictments charging 73 defendants in five federal judicial districts with alleged health care fraud involving more than $163 million in fraudulent billing. The figure was an allegation covering the broader group of cases—not a court-established loss or a finding of guilt for every person charged.

What the 2010 announcement said

The Justice Department said the indictments were unsealed in California, Georgia, New Mexico, New York and Ohio. It reported 52 arrests on announcement day and described the investigation as a national effort involving multiple agencies. The allegations included billing Medicare for medically unnecessary care or services never performed, stealing doctors’ and beneficiaries’ identities, and using sham providers to seek reimbursements.

According to the DOJ, the indictments alleged that the operation used at least 118 phony clinics in 25 states. These were charging allegations; an indictment is not proof of guilt, and the announcement did not establish that every defendant participated in every alleged practice. Read the Justice Department’s October 13, 2010 announcement.

Where defendants were charged

District Defendants charged
Southern District of New York 44
New Mexico 7
Southern District of Georgia 6
Northern District of Ohio 6
Central District of California 10

The DOJ announcement reported these district counts. The counts and allegations varied by case; the release did not say that all defendants faced the same charges.

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How the alleged New York scheme worked

The New York account concerned two indictments charging 44 defendants and described the Mirzoyan-Terdjanian Organization. Prosecutors alleged that it used identities belonging to real physicians and Medicare beneficiaries to submit claims through sham providers, sometimes associated with mailbox addresses. The FBI said some billed procedures did not match the specialties of the doctors whose identities were used.

The New York allegations involved more than $100 million in Medicare bills. That is a narrower case figure than the DOJ’s more-than-$163-million total for the multi-district announcement, and it measures billed claims rather than money received. In a 2012 update, the FBI said the providers in the New York case had received approximately $35.7 million. The FBI’s 2012 account of the New York case.

A separate Ohio example

In the Northern District of Ohio, the FBI described a case involving six people accused of billing more than $44 million for false Medicare services, with about $19 million reportedly paid. The allegations included stolen doctor and beneficiary identities, false-front practice locations, provider applications, and money laundering through shell-business accounts.

Those figures belong to the Ohio case and should not be added to the national or New York figures as though the sources establish non-overlapping totals. See the FBI’s Ohio case account.

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What happened after the indictments

Davit Mirzoyan

The FBI reported that Davit Mirzoyan pleaded guilty in 2012 to racketeering and conspiracies to commit health care fraud, bank fraud, money laundering and identity theft. The FBI described the alleged Medicare scheme as operating from 2006 to 2010, with approximately 118 fraudulent providers in about 25 states, approximately $100 million billed and approximately $35.7 million received. These figures describe the narrower New York case update, not the full $163 million national announcement.

Armen Kazarian

The FBI reported that Armen Kazarian pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in 2011 and acknowledged association with the organization and extortion conduct. These individual pleas document outcomes for named defendants; the cited accounts do not establish the final disposition for all 73 people charged. Read the FBI’s account of Kazarian’s plea.

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How to interpret the headline figures

  • More than $163 million: alleged fraudulent billing across the cases in the DOJ’s 2010 national announcement, not a proven loss.
  • More than $100 million: alleged Medicare bills in the narrower New York scheme account.
  • Approximately $35.7 million: money the FBI said the New York providers received in its 2012 update.
  • More than $44 million billed and about $19 million paid: FBI figures for the separate Ohio allegations.

The numbers refer to different case scopes and different measures—billed claims versus payments reportedly received. Treating them as interchangeable, or adding them together, would misstate what the cited agencies reported.

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