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 was sentenced to a three-year state prison term today for causing bills to be submitted to the Medicaid program for services that were never provided.
Anatoli Rountsev, 53, of Totowa, was sentenced by Bergen County Superior Court Judge Edward Jerejian.
In December, Rountsev pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree health care claims fraud. As part of the plea agreement, he will also have to pay restitution in the amount of $12,598.
Rountsev admitted that between January 2008 and June 2009, he caused 463 false claims to be submitted to Medicaid for services that he did not provide. Rountsev failed to provide home health aide services for Medicaid beneficiaries on hundreds of claims since he was actually at another, unrelated job, and therefore unable to have performed any of the services.
The investigation determined that, as a result of this fraud, Medicaid paid out $12,598. Rountsev 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: Elhan Gurban, 52, of Fort Lee, pleaded guilty in February to second-degree health care claims fraud. Gurban admitted to causing 1,413 false claims to be submitted to Medicaid, which paid out $64,125.
His sentencing is scheduled for May 8. Naum Lavnevich, 57, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree health care claims fraud, admitting that between January 2008 and October 2010, 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 May 8.
Vladimir Faerman, 67, of Hawthorne, charged in October 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. His case remains pending.
Roman Abashkin, 33, of Wayne, was sentenced to two years of probation in March after admitting that he had caused 212 fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicaid, which paid out $6,664. He paid restitution in the same amount.
Semen Rybalov, 69, of Wayne, was sentenced in March to three years of probation after admitting that he had caused 45 false claims to be submitted to Medicaid, which paid out $2,180. He paid restitution in the same amount.
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.