Nursing homes must sometimes outsource for specialized care for things like Podiatry and other care from physicians. It is unfortunate that some unscrupulous people take advantage of the need for these kinds of services. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on the court case of a health care CEO who received a year in prison for fraud involving nursing homes.
52-year-old James Sayadzal of Chicago, Illinois, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge. He was sentenced last week to spend 366 days in federal jail and was ordered to pay $1.77 million in restitution to Medicare.
Sayadzal was just one person implicated in a fraud scam linked to a company providing podiatry services to residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities. One of three company officers caught up in the scam along with six doctors.
Prosecutors say that Yev Gray, owner of Aggeus Healthcare, carried out a broad scheme between 2009 and 2015 by creating an electronic billing scheme that billed Medicare for podiatry services that were never performed or would not have been covered.
Gray was sentenced to 7 and ½ years in prison and ordered to repay $6.97 million. Gray’s wife, Natalie Gray, was also charged in the scandal, was sentenced to 366 days in prison and ordered to repay nearly $1 million.
Prosecutors say that the couple used the funds made through the Medicare scam to fund their lavish lifestyle.
Nursing homes were told that the doctors would treat patients at no cost to the facility. They would then bill Medicare for unnecessary procedures or procedures that were not covered.
Have you or a loved one been the victim of abuse or neglect while residing in a nursing home? Let the law offices of Schenk Smith fight to get you the compensation that you deserve. Call us today.
