She Filed 8,000 Fake COVID Tax Claims Seeking $600 Million — Now She’s Going to Prison

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A Brooklyn tax preparer who helped file more than 8,000 fraudulent tax returns seeking over $600 million in pandemic-era tax credits was sentenced Friday to three years in federal prison, prosecutors announced.

Tiffany Williams, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud for her role in a sprawling scheme that exploited two COVID-19 relief programs: the employee retention credit and the paid sick and family leave credit — both passed by Congress to help struggling small businesses survive the global pandemic.

Instead of helping legitimate businesses, Williams and her co-conspirators used the programs as an ATM. Between November 2021 and June 2023, they submitted thousands of false claims, pocketing fees and leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.

In total, the conspiracy sought more than $600 Million in credits that neither Williams, her co−conspirators, nor their clients were entitled to receive. The actual loss to the United States was approximately $45 million.

“This sentence reflects the serious consequences of exploiting pandemic relief programs designed to help honest businesses in crisis,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “The Fraud Division will continue to pursue those who steal from American taxpayers.”

Moscow-Based Crime Ring Bilked $2 Billion from U.S. Insurers with Fake Telemedicine Visits, Ghost Patients

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — They ran call centers in Utah and Russia, bought up pharmacies across America using straw owners, and hired doctors who never laid eyes on a single patient. Then they submitted nearly $2 Billion in fraudulent claims to private insurers—and walked away with more than $758 Million.

On Tuesday, three members of a Moscow-based international criminal organization were sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms for orchestrating one of the largest telemedicine fraud schemes in U.S. history.

Anthony Santamaria was sentenced to 10 years; Hershel Tsikman received 120 months (10 years); and Hafizullah Ebady got 97 months (just over eight years). All were ordered to pay millions in forfeiture — $3.2 Million from Santamaria, more than $1.8 Million from Ebady — and restitution to victims, to be determined later.

The sentences were handed down by U.S. District Judge William F. Kuntz II in Brooklyn federal court.

“This Moscow-based criminal organization provided anything but health care,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Through aliases, encrypted communications, shell companies, and straw owners, these defendants siphoned nearly $2 billion from private insurers that provide services to American patients. They executed a brazen international fraud scheme involving sham call centers, ghost telemedicine visits, and remotely controlled pharmacies — with many patients never receiving the medication.”

A Fraud Machine Spanning Continents

According to court filings, between 2017 and 2022, the conspirators built a sophisticated fraud engine. They controlled call centers — first in Utah, then later in Russia — that contacted beneficiaries enrolled in private health insurance plans. The pitch: free medications, no doctor’s visit required, no exam needed.

Many beneficiaries never agreed to receive anything. It didn’t matter. The defendants generated fraudulent prescriptions for them anyway.

They recruited doctors, supposedly to review prescriptions after telemedicine visits. But prosecutors say that in most cases, no telemedicine visits ever occurred. The doctors’ names and National Provider Identifier numbers were simply stamped on fake prescriptions. Many patients never received the medications they were billed for.

To complete the scheme, the organization bought dozens of existing brick-and-mortar pharmacies across the United States — in Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manhattan, Long Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Michigan, and Alabama. They used straw owners to hide their control. Then they trained teams of Moscow-based “billers” to remotely submit electronic reimbursement requests through those pharmacies.

The scale is staggering: according to third-party billing records, the defendants submitted over 1.97 Billion in fraudulent prescriptions. Private insurers paid out more than $758 Million.

The Players and Their Roles

Under the direction of Brian Sutton — a U.S. citizen believed to be residing abroad and still at large — the defendants each played a specific role:

Joshua Alegria (awaiting sentencing): oversaw custom software development and forwarded fraudulent prescriptions to licensed physicians for approval.
David Bishoff (awaiting sentencing): coordinated logistics for multiple scheme pharmacies.
Hafizullah Ebady (sentenced to 97 months): coordinated the purchase of and acted as “boots-on-the-ground manager” for at least 30 scheme pharmacies.
Brycen Millett (awaiting sentencing): oversaw call centers in Utah, Russia, and elsewhere.
Dela Saidazim (sentenced to time served in Dec. 2022): recruited licensed physicians and acted as Sutton’s personal assistant.
Anthony Santamaria (sentenced to 10 years): trained and managed teams of Moscow-based billers to input data and remotely submit fraudulent reimbursement requests.
Hershel Tsikman (sentenced to 120 months): coordinated laundering of fraud proceeds through straw owners and shell entities for at least 30 pharmacies, personally wiring millions internationally.

Hiding in Plain Sight

The conspirators went to extraordinary lengths to avoid detection. They operated under multiple aliases, used end-to-end encrypted communications, funneled hundreds of millions of dollars through pass-through shell companies, and moved operations overseas when law enforcement began closing in.

They even laundered millions in fraudulent proceeds from abroad to purchase the very pharmacies used in the scheme — effectively using stolen insurance money to buy the infrastructure for more theft.

“For over five years, the defendants built a sophisticated, international criminal organization that employed scores of call center employees and remote-billers to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from American businesses and launder the stolen monies overseas,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York. “Despite the defendants’ aliases, encrypted messaging platforms, shell companies and straw owners, even operating from overseas, they are now being held accountable.”

Brian Sutton, the alleged leader of the criminal organization, remains at large. Prosecutors believe he is residing outside the United States. Three other co-defendants — Bishoff, Millett, and Alegria — are awaiting sentencing.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.