Ten New York residents, including five former Soviet citizens, have been charged in a $70 million scheme to defraud Medicaid and Medicare at health clinics in New York.
Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced on December 3 that the suspects were arrested earlier that day.
Five of the suspects: Victor Lipkin, 49; Vadim Zubkov, 46; Eduard Zavalunov, 33; Nikoloz Chochiev, 39; and Anatoly Fatakhov, 57, are from the former Soviet Union.
Investigators say the defendants fraudulently billed over $70 million to Medicaid and Medicare and received over $25 million in reimbursements.
Lipkin, Zubkov, and Zavalunov are also charged with conspiring to launder the proceeds of the fraud.
The defendants face up to 20 years in jail and large fines if convicted.