Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) announced that a former employee of a home health agency today pleaded guilty to charges that he caused bills to be submitted to the Medicaid program for services that were never provided.
Elhan Gurban, 52, of Fort Lee, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree health care claims fraud before Bergen County Superior Court Judge Liliana Deavila-Silebi.
The state will recommend a prison sentence of four years and that he pay restitution in the amount of $64,125.
Gurban admitted between January 2008 and October 2012, he caused 1,413 false claims to be submitted to Medicaid for services that he did not provide. Gurban failed to provide home health aide services for Medicaid beneficiaries on hundreds of claims since he was actually out of the country or at another, unrelated job, and therefore unable to have performed any of the services. An investigation by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor determined that, as a result of the fraud, Medicaid allegedly paid out $64,125.
Gurban was a certified homemaker home health aide at Confident Care Corporation, a company that is headquartered in Hackensack and has ten satellite offices throughout New Jersey, as well as offices in Florida.
He is one of six current or former employees of Confident Care to be charged by OIFP for scamming Medicaid in a similar fashion. The others include:
Naum Lavnevich, 57, of Oakland, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree health care claims fraud, admitting that between January 2008 and October 2010, the he caused 178 claims to be submitted to Medicaid for services that were not provided. As a result of the fraud, Medicaid paid out $5,614. His sentencing is scheduled for April 10.
Anatoli Rountsev, 52, of Totowa, pleaded guilty in December 2014 to one count second-degree health care claims fraud, admitting that between June 2008 and June 2009, he caused 463 false claims to be submitted to Medicaid, which paid out $12,598. His sentencing is scheduled for March 27.
Vladimir Faerman, 66, of Hawthorne, charged in October 2014 with 175 counts of second-degree health care claims fraud, second-degree theft by deception and third-degree Medicaid fraud. Faerman allegedly caused fraudulent claims totaling $87,616.23 to be submitted to the Medicaid program for work he never actually completed.
Roman Abashkin, 32, of Wayne, charged in July 2014 with 24 counts of second-degree health care claims fraud and one count each of third-degree Medicaid fraud and third-degree theft by deception. Abashkin allegedly caused 212 fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicaid, which paid out $6,664. Semen Rybalov, 68, of Wayne, charged in July 2014 with 15 counts of second-degree health care claims fraud and one count each of third-degree Medicaid fraud and third-degree theft by deception. Rybalov allegedly caused 45 false claims to be submitted to Medicaid, which paid out $2,180.
Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Chillemi noted that some important cases have started with anonymous tips. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll‑free hotline at 1‑877‑55‑FRAUD, or visiting the Web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org.