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US News & World Report |
| http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/980202/archive_003124_2.htm |
The New Face of Medicare Drug dealers and organized-crime groups have invaded the Medicare system and are taking the government and citizens for a billion-dollar ride By Stephen J. Hedges © 1998 US News & World Report 2/2/98 |
| The scams span the nation but are most often found in states where there are large Medicare and Medicaid populations. In New York, Florida, and California, federal agents say, Russian organized-crime figures run hundreds of clinics, testing centers, laboratories, and medical-equipment companies that siphon millions of Medicare and Medicaid dollars each year. A pair of Russian emigres in New York's Brighton Beach, according to an indictment, gave patients microwave ovens and air conditioners in exchange for their Medicare numbers and then used those numbers to bill Medicare for $12 million. In New Jersey, authorities believe members of the Genovese organized-crime family used a health-insurance brokerage to skim money from health care groups. One clinic owner suspected of Medicare fraud and drug dealing was shot down in 1996 outside his Miami clinic. Reputed narcotrafficker Frank Morfa swindled Medicare out of $7.5 million by billing for nutritional supplements, most of which were undelivered. Another scam artist, Akiyoshi Yamada, set up clinics in Miami after pleading guilty to investment fraud. Agents say that he may have stolen $200 million. |