California Doctor Violetta Mailyan Sentenced to 15 Years in $45 Million Medicare Botox Fraud Scheme
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on October 30 that California doctor Violetta Mailyan was sentenced on October 29 to 15 years in federal prison. Using her medical practice, she fraudulently billed Medicare more than $45 million for Botox injection services that were medically unnecessary and never provided.
Mailyan owned and operated the Healthy Way Medical Center in Glendale, Los Angeles County. As the Justice Department previously announced, a federal jury convicted her in May on nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of obstructing a criminal investigation of a health care offense. Prosecutors said the clinic disguised cosmetic injections as chronic-migraine treatment, generating claims on days the clinic was closed and while Mailyan was traveling on vacation; some listed patients were abroad or serving federal prison sentences at the time.
The case began with data analytics: the Justice Department's analysis showed Mailyan had been paid more by Medicare for Botox injections than any other doctor in the United States — more than $24 million over four years, six times the amount received by the next-highest group of providers. Medicare paid out roughly $33 million on the fraudulent claims. The FBI's Los Angeles field office has called the scheme the largest Botox fraud prosecuted in the United States.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部总部大楼。GSM联邦机构固定图库。 / U.S. Department of Justice headquarters. GSM federal asset library.
