A Los Angeles County doctor is facing federal charges after allegedly running a massive $45 million scam involving fake Botox treatments—some of which were supposedly administered while her patients were actually sitting in federal prison.
A federal grand jury in California returned a superseding indictment yesterday against Dr. Violetta Mailyan, 45, charging her with defrauding Medicare and attempting to cover her tracks. Prosecutors say Mailyan, who owned and operated Healthy Way Medical Center, routinely billed the government for medically unnecessary or non-existent injections.
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According to court documents, the billing practices at Healthy Way were brazen. Investigators allege Mailyan submitted claims for services provided on dates when she was traveling internationally, as well as dates when the patients themselves were out of the country. In some instances, the clinic allegedly billed for treatments on days it was completely closed to the public.
Perhaps most notably, the indictment claims Mailyan billed Medicare for treating beneficiaries who were incarcerated in federal prison at the time the services were supposedly rendered.
Authorities say the scheme didn’t stop at fraudulent billing. Mailyan is also accused of obstructing a criminal investigation by submitting falsified medical records in response to a grand jury subpoena.
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She now faces nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of obstructing a criminal investigation of health care offenses. If convicted, the penalties are steep: Mailyan faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and five years for each obstruction count.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). It is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Sandor Callahan of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
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