A federal grand jury in California has returned a superseding indictment charging a Los Angeles County physician with orchestrating a $45 million Medicare fraud scheme involving allegedly false claims for Botox injections and efforts to obstruct a federal investigation.
The indictment accuses Violetta Mailyan, 45, of submitting more than $45 million in fraudulent claims through Healthy Way Medical Center, a clinic she owned and operated. Prosecutors allege the claims sought reimbursement for Botox injections that were medically unnecessary or never provided to Medicare beneficiaries.
According to court documents, the alleged false billings included claims for injections on dates when Mailyan was traveling abroad, when beneficiaries were traveling internationally, when purported patients were incarcerated in federal prison and when the clinic was closed.
Federal prosecutors also allege that Mailyan attempted to obstruct the investigation by submitting falsified medical records in response to a grand jury subpoena.
Mailyan is charged with nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of obstructing a criminal investigation involving health care offenses. Each wire fraud count carries a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while each obstruction count carries a maximum sentence of five years, if she is convicted.
