A man from New York has been sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme involving specialty baby formula. Vladislav Kotlyar, 45, of Staten Island, was also ordered to pay approximately $738,000 in restitution and forfeit around $1 million.
Court documents reveal that Kotlyar submitted and caused the submission of falsified prescriptions and medical records for specialty baby formula paid for by health insurers. He obtained prescriptions and medical records for infants who were prescribed baby formula and altered those records concerning the type and amount of formula prescribed to acquire large quantities of expensive specialty baby formula.
After receiving the specialty baby formula, Kotlyar fabricated issues with the shipments. He impersonated the infants’ fathers to falsely claim that shipments were damaged or contained incorrect formula, thereby acquiring additional formula at no extra cost. He then sold the fraudulently obtained formula. A part of Kotlyar’s scheme took place during a national shortage of infant formula.
Kotlyar had previously pleaded guilty to mail fraud in March 2023.
The sentencing was announced by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York; Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Assistant Director in Charge James Smith of the FBI New York Field Office.
The case was investigated by the FBI New York Field Office. Trial Attorney Patrick J. Campbell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted it while Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire S. Kedeshian for the Eastern District of New York assisted with forfeiture.
The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through its Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program has charged over 5,400 defendants who have collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, are also taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes.