Arizona Cardiology Group to Pay $4.75 Million to Settle Allegations of Unnecessary Vein Procedures
PHOENIX — A Phoenix-area cardiology practice and three of its physicians have agreed to pay $4.75 million to resolve allegations that they performed medically unnecessary vein ablations and falsified medical records to justify the procedures, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday .
Tri-City Cardiology, P.C., along with Drs. Jaskamal Kahlon, Joshua D. Cohen, and M. Joshua Berkowitz, were accused of violating the False Claims Act by billing Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health programs for ablations on perforator veins that did not meet accepted medical standards for treatment .
The civil settlement covers conduct from January 1, 2017, to April 27, 2022 . According to the Justice Department, the physicians knowingly performed ablations on perforator veins—small veins that connect deep and superficial leg veins—that required treatment only under specific circumstances .
Federal prosecutors alleged that the defendants incorrectly measured or documented in medical records the duration of outward blood flow, the diameter of veins, patient symptoms, and conservative therapy measures, creating the appearance that the procedures were justified .
“Physicians should not prioritize profit over patient needs,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Medicare and other federal programs pay only for medical care that meets accepted standards, and the falsification of medical records undermines efforts to assess whether medical care was appropriate” .
The practice, which has locations in Mesa, Chandler, and Gilbert, did not admit liability as part of the settlement and denies the allegations .
U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine for the District of Arizona emphasized the financial impact of such practices on federal healthcare programs. “Paying for unnecessary medical procedures reduces federal programs’ capacity to pay for truly necessary procedures,” Courchaine said .
Of the $4.75 million settlement, approximately $4.6 million will go to the federal government and $144,000 to the state of Arizona .
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability
Note, View settlement here.
10 Medicaid Providers Indicted in Ohio Fraud Crackdown
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ten Medicaid providers have been indicted on charges of defrauding the state’s Medicaid program out of a combined $578,000, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Thursday.
The indictments, filed this month in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, follow investigations by the Ohio Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU). The cases were identified through a combination of traditional investigative methods and a new data-mining initiative designed to flag irregular billing patterns.
“In the spirit of St. Patrick, we’re driving out the snakes who prey on Medicaid,” Yost said in a statement. “We have zero tolerance for billing shenanigans that cheat taxpayers and exploit the vulnerable.”
Three of the cases were uncovered through the data-mining system, which streamlines fraud detection by flagging suspicious billing patterns for manual review. The initiative is a joint effort between MFCU and the Ohio Department of Medicaid.
Among the cases identified through the data-mining program:
- Damona Lee, 46, of Cleveland, is accused of billing for daily in-home services during a three-month period when a client was staying at a care facility, resulting in a $5,379 loss. The client reported that Lee threatened him and instructed him to lie to Medicaid.
- Shawuan Telfair, 39, of Mayfield Heights, allegedly billed for in-home services while a client was hospitalized or out of state, and while she herself was traveling in Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas. The loss to Medicaid totaled $8,466.
- Ashley Vernon, 41, of Canton, is accused of billing for in-home services on 43 dates when a client was staying at a nursing facility, causing a $3,839 loss from May through July 2024.
Other defendants face similar allegations of billing for services not rendered:
- Yevgeniya Kantor, 70, of Cleveland, allegedly falsified timesheets and claimed to provide services to a client who was traveling out of state. The loss totaled $3,468.
- Jennifer Martino, 49, of Mayfield Heights, is accused of billing Medicaid for services while traveling abroad for figure-skating competitions and for overlapping services to multiple clients. The alleged loss from January 2023 to February 2026 is $51,154.
- Torian McGee, 32, formerly of Dayton, allegedly billed for in-home services on 37 dates when a client was hospitalized, resulting in a $2,841 loss from July 2023 through January 2024.
- Vernon Rawls, 57, of Cincinnati, faces charges in connection with Exclusive Services, an addiction-treatment center he owns in Blue Ash. Investigators allege a $398,845 loss after a client reported that Rawls billed for intensive outpatient treatment that was not provided. A review of records and interviews with 12 recipients and two providers confirmed services were either not rendered or significantly inflated. Rawls acknowledged the billing discrepancies but claimed he “assumed” treatments had taken place, according to investigators.
- Geneva Ray, 42, of Cleveland, allegedly received $6,587 in improper payments between 2021 and 2025 by billing for services during vacations. She admitted to the fraud, telling investigators, “I just messed up and am fessing up.”
- Rhonda Russell, 58, of Ray in Jackson County, is accused of continuing to bill for 24-hour care for a relative after moving out of their shared residence. Investigators determined she billed for more than 1,000 continuous shifts despite being absent for many. She admitted to providing only 50% to 60% of services after moving out and roughly 80% during earlier periods. The loss totaled $37,030.
- Shemeca Spain, 48, of Milford, allegedly continued billing Medicaid for nine months after stopping services to a client. Records also show she billed for overlapping services, canceled sessions, and dates she was traveling out of state. The alleged loss from November 2021 through September 2025 is $60,919.
“Our investigators are watchful stewards of state and federal Medicaid dollars, always on the lookout for sticky-fingered criminals,” Yost said. “Fraud is a crime at any scale, and we are committed to bringing offenders to justice.”
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which operates within the Health Care Fraud Section, investigates and prosecutes health care providers who defraud the state Medicaid program and enforces Ohio’s Patient Abuse and Neglect Law.
The indictments are criminal allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
