DME Suppliers Convicted of Criminal Health Care Fraud

Gevork Kartashyan and Eliza Shurabalyan, pricipals of DME supply company, CHH Medical Supply were convicted by a jury last week and will be sentenced in Oct. According to HHS, the two fraudulently billed Medicare $949,859 and were paid $597,750 for medically unnecessary power wheelchairs and wheelchair accessories:

At trial, elderly Medicare beneficiaries testified about how they were recruited and taken to Los Angeles-area medical clinics. At the clinics, the beneficiaries turned over their Medicare numbers and other personal identifying information. Some were promised vitamins, diabetic shoes, and other items that they never received.

Additionally, five physicians testified that they “never authorized or approved the power wheelchair prescriptions written under their names, often by physician’s assistants.”

To report DME fraud or other Medicare or Medicaid fraud, contact Frohsin & Barger.