A federal jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted a New York woman today for her role in an $8 million health care fraud conspiracy.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Olga Popovych, 43, of New York, New York, was an office manager of several physical therapy clinics that paid cash kickbacks to ambulette drivers who recruited Medicare patients to bring to the clinics. As the evidence at trial showed, the defendant was personally involved with paying the ambulette drivers cash kickbacks. She also falsified medical records to indicate that physical therapists who were not actually at the clinic treated the patients. Between 2018 and 2020, Medicare paid these clinics over $8 million.
Witnesses testified at trial that the defendant exchanged text messages with her co-conspirators that discussed the payment of kickbacks through the use of code words. The evidence also showed that the defendant suspected that the clinics were being watched by law enforcement and took steps to conceal the scheme.
The jury convicted Popovych of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to make false statements relating to health care matters, 4 counts of health care fraud, and 3 counts of making false statements relating to health care matters. She faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years for each health care fraud conviction and 5 years for each false statements conviction. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division; U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. for the Eastern District of New York; Special Agent in Charge Naomi Gruchacz for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle for the FBI New York Field Office made the announcement.
HHS-OIG and FBI investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Patrick J. Campbell and John Howard of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. Trial Attorney Miriam Glaser Dauermann assisted in the prosecution.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
The Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, currently comprised of nine 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 since 2007. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & 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. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
