Queens Doc Indicted For False Medical Tests
Posted on Tuesday, 19 of August , 2008 at 5:11 pm
QUEENS—A medical doctor formerly employed at a Jamaica, Queens, medical clinic has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury for falsely billing insurance carriers over a nearly four-year period for costly medical tests never provided to motor vehicle accident victims. It is alleged that the defendant submitted old test results of other patients as “proof” that he did the tests.
Yakov Raufov, 44, of 21 Carlyle Drive in Glen Cove, Long Island, practiced at L&B Medical, located at 153-25 Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. Raufov was arraigned Tuesday before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder on a 33-count felony indictment, charging him with 12 counts of fourth-degree insurance fraud, 12 counts of first-degree falsifying business records, eight counts of fourth-degree grand larceny and one count of first-degree scheme to defraud.
Raufov, who faces up to four years in prison and loss of his license to practice medicine if convicted, was released on his own recognizance and ordered to return to court on Sept. 16.
“The cost of automobile insurance fraud is enormous, estimated by the insurance industry at $30 billion nationwide each year”, Queens district attorney Richard A. Brown said. “Such rip-offs hit the honest consumer squarely in the pocketbook by way of ever increasing insurance premiums. In New York, the typical motorist pays anywhere from $300 to $400 in higher premiums. Today’s arrest sends a clear message to those who are attempting to fleece the system for their own personal gain that law enforcement’s fight against insurance fraud is ongoing and that those who cheat will be sought out and vigorously prosecuted.”
The District Attorney said that under New York’s no-fault insurance law, a person injured in a motor vehicle accident can receive up to $50,000 coverage for medical expenses incurred as a result of an accident. Most health providers are reimbursed directly by the insurance carriers for services provided.
Brown said between August 2003 and April 2007, the defendant engaged in an insurance fraud scheme in which he submitted insurance claims for costly nerve conduction studies and needle electromyographs (“NCV/EMGs”) that, in fact, were not performed on twelve individuals. A NCV tests the flow of electrical currents across the nerves, and an EMG is a recording of the electrical activity in muscles and nerves.
Raufov is alleged to have caused fraudulent claims for these unrendered and unnecessary medical tests to be submitted to a number of no-fault insurance companies in an amount totaling more than $18,000.
Brown said the matter would be referred to the New York State Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct for a review of the defendant’s license to practice medicine. 8-19-08
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Category: Consumers, Courts, Crime, Health, Insurance, New York State
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