{"id":5600,"date":"2014-08-18T13:24:31","date_gmt":"2014-08-18T20:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=5600"},"modified":"2014-08-18T13:24:31","modified_gmt":"2014-08-18T20:24:31","slug":"mastermind-20-million-fraud-scheme-sentenced-eight-years-federal-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=5600","title":{"rendered":"Mastermind of $20 Million Fraud Scheme Sentenced to Eight Years in Federal Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"criminal\"<\/a>LOS ANGELES<\/strong>\u00a0– A federal judge on Monday sentenced the mastermind of a $20 million health care fraud scheme based at a Glendale medical clinic to eight years \u00a0in prison for overseeing a plot to fraudulently prescribe expensive anti-psychotic medications.<\/p>\n

Authorities said those drugs were sold back to pharmacies through the black market, where the drugs would be billed to the government again.<\/p>\n

Lianna \u201cLili\u201d Ovsepian<\/strong>, 33, of Tujunga, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge S. James Otero, who told the defendant: \u00a0\u201cWe can\u2019t have a situation where crime pays.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the prison term, officials said Judge Otero ordered Ovsepian, who was the owner of\u00a0\u00a0Manor Medical Imaging, Inc. in Glendale, to pay $9.1 million as\u00a0restitution to Medicare and Medi-Cal.<\/p>\n

Last November, Ovsepian pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to commit identity theft, officials said.<\/p>\n

Ovespian along with Family Members and Others Involved in the Fraud<\/strong><\/p>\n

From September 2009 through October 27, 2011, prosecutors said Medi-Cal and Medicare was billed more than $20 million. The programs paid more than $9.1 million to pharmacies based on more than 14,000 claims submitted in relation to the scheme, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing brief filed in Ovsepian\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

The case involving Manor was the first one in the nation alleging an organized scheme to defraud government health care programs through fraudulent claims for anti-psychotic medications. The case is also the largest of its kind in Southern California involving a fraud targeting Medicare Part D.<\/p>\n

Ovsepian oversaw a scheme that involved several family members and other co-conspirators, officials said. \u00a0A total of 16 defendants have been convicted either through guilty pleas or by jury verdicts.<\/p>\n

Following a trial earlier this year, officials said \u00a0co-conspirator, Dr. Kenneth Johnson, \u00a0Ovsepian\u2019s mother-in-law, Nuritsa Grigoryan.and \u00a0Ovsepian\u2019s brother, Artak Ovsepian, were found guilty of a host of charges related to the scheme. Those three defendants are currently pending sentencing.<\/p>\n

Other defendants who were charged in this case include a Pasadena couple whose Huntington Pharmacy in San Marino saw its business grew dramatically due its affiliation with Manor Medical. The owner of the pharmacy, Phic Lim, is scheduled for trial in 2015.<\/p>\n

Evidence in this case indicated the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n