BROOKLYN BANKER PLEADS GUILTY TO LAUNDERING PROCEEDS OF MEDICARE FRAUD FOR TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION

The following information was released by the U.S. Department of Justice:

A New York man pleaded guilty today to participating in a scheme to launder more than $8 million in health care fraud proceeds through a U.S. bank on behalf of a transnational criminal organization (TCO).This marks the first time the Health Care Fraud Unit has charged and convicted a former bank employee for conspiring to launder health care fraud proceeds.

According to court documents, Renat Abramov, 36, of Brooklyn, a former relationship manager at a U.S. bank branch in Sheepshead Bay, used his position to aid a sophisticated international scheme uncovered byOperation Gold Rush. Abramov, a dual citizen of the United States and Azerbaijan, was a member of a TCO that allegedly submitted more than $10 billion in fraudulent Medicare claims by stealing the identities of over one million Americans, including elderly and disabled citizens in all 50 states.

As alleged in charging documents, the TCO exploited the U.S. financial system using a range of tactics to circumvent internal controls at multiple banks. Abramov helped execute the scheme by opening bank accounts for individuals many not lawfully present in the United States who posed as owners of fake medical equipment companies using fake corporate registration documents. The bank accounts were used to deposit fraudulently obtained insurance checks, which appeared legitimate because they came from Medicare and established insurance companies. Once deposited, members of the TCO transferred the money into offshore accounts and cryptocurrency.

Abramov pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 20.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.

The FBI and HHS-OIG are investigating the case.

Assistant Chiefs Kevin Lowell and Shankar Ramamurthy, along with Trial Attorneys Leonid Sandlar, Sara E. Porter, and Andres Q. Almendarez of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division's efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of eight strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes.