Tigran “Tony” Aklyan, of Van Nuys, California, was recently sentenced to 2 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay over $650,000 in restitution for his part in a conspiracy to defraud Medicare in a durable medical equipment scheme involving several clinics and fake prescriptions.

The San Gabriel based Las Tunas Medical Equipment would pay for fake prescriptions and then submit the bills to Medicare, charging over $900,000 and receiving over $650,000 over a few years.

Did you receive any bills from Las Tunas Medical Equipment?  Or how about one of the named clinics, Multiple Trading, Inc., doing business as Advanced Medical Clinic?

It’s not that far a jump to think that if a fraudulent outfit like this is submitting fake bills to Medicare for wheelchairs and diagnostic tests, it can do the same for workers’ comp insurers.  And it can take several forms too: overbilling can be dealt with by looking at bill review, but what about billing for services never provided?  It’s not every day that the injured worker will sit down with the adjuster and highlight all the services billed that the worker did not receive.

The complaint also generally refers to several medical clinics located on Rampart Boulevard and on Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles as co-conspirators known to the Grand Jury.

Have you had any dealings with Tony the Tigran or Las Tunas?  Or perhaps from Advanced Medical Clinic?