Aleksandr Pikus, the New York man at the center of a multimillion-dollar health care kickback and tax avoidance conspiracy, has been resentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay $39 million in restitution. The scheme orchestrated by Pikus involved referring Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to health care providers in exchange for illegal kickbacks. As a result, the health care providers submitted millions of dollars in false and fraudulent claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
"Pikus failed to report that cash income to the IRS, instead using sham shell companies and fake invoices to conceal the transactions," the court documents revealed. He utilized the cash for personal benefit and to pay kickbacks to patient recruiters involved in the fraudulent scheme.
After being convicted at trial in 2019, Pikus saw his conviction overturned on appeal. However, he was reindicted in January 2023 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in May of the same year. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, along with officials from IRS Criminal Investigation and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, made the announcement of Pikus's resentencing.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, with Trial Attorney Patrick J. Campbell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section handling the prosecution.
The Justice Department's efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program have been ongoing since March 2007. This program, operating in 27 federal districts, has charged over 5,400 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in collaboration with HHS-OIG, are also working to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes.