Nurse practitioner admits bilking nearly $4.4 million

Prosecutors say Istomin rented and used office space in East Greenwich, Rhode Island Diagnostic Center, only so he could send out bills and receive insurance payments. No patient services were provided there, and the office wasn't equipped for patient care.

A nurse practitioner who kept a fake office in East Greenwich will forfeit more than $4 million, the amount of money he received from fraudulently billing health insurance companies and Medicare, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Providence.

Alexander A. Istomin, 56, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court, Providence, to an 11-count information charging him with health care fraud, mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, and causing the introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha said in a press release.

Istomin fraudulently billed health insurers and Medicare $4,379,158.98 for services that he falsely claimed to have provided to patients in Rhode Island, New York, and Florida, according to Cunha. Istomin, also a registered nurse, was arrested Aug. 11, 2021, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The scheme started in February 2014.

Prosecutors say Istomin rented and used office space in East Greenwich, Rhode Island Diagnostic Center, only so he could send out bills and receive insurance payments. No patient services were provided there, and the office wasn't equipped for patient care.

On many of the occasions that Istomin claimed to have seen patients, he was actually in another state or another country, often Russia, according to the U.S. attorney. In other cases, Istomin claimed to have provided services to patients who were themselves in a different state or country, according to the U.S. attorney.

Istomin also admitted that he sometimes would use patient names to get prescriptions filled at pharmacies, but had the prescriptions returned to him so he could distribute them to other people, according to Cunha.

Istomin is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 26.

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Prosecutors say Istomin rented and used office space in East Greenwich, Rhode Island Diagnostic Center, only so he could send out bills and receive insurance payments. No patient services were provided there, and the office wasn't equipped for patient care.