California doctor Violetta Mailyan has been convicted of defrauding Medicare of $45M
A California doctor accused of sending more than $45 million in false and fraudulent Medicare claims for Botox injections—in an effort to fund a lavish lifestyle that included luxury vacations and the purchase of a $12,000 17th-century crossbow—has been sentenced by a federal judge, the Justice Department announced.
Violetta Mailyan, 45, of Glendale, was convicted of nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of obstructing a criminal investigation.
Mailyan’s performance in suburban Los Angeles was flagged by the DOJ’s Health Care Division’s Data Analysis Team.
An analysis showed he was paid more by Medicare for Botox injections than any other doctor in the United States, making him an extreme outlier among medical providers, prosecutors said.
At the time, Mailyan had been paid more than $24 million over the past four years — six times the amount earned by the next highest group of providers, all of whom were neurologists.
“Violetta Mailyan falsely identified patients, fraudulently billed Medicare for Botox injections while on luxury vacations, and attempted to deceive federal agents with falsified records,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Criminal Division. “The fraud unit’s data-driven approach shines a light on fraud schemes across the country, ensuring that no doctor can be involved in these schemes to steal taxpayer dollars.”
In addition to conspiring to defraud Medicare, Mailyan altered medical records in an attempt to mislead investigators, authorities said.
He owned and operated Healthy Way Medical Center, which billed Medicare for Botox injections that were medically unnecessary and were never administered.
This included charging for injections on days Mailyan traveled to Cabo, Mexico; Maui, Hawaii; Las Vegas; Pennsylvania; and New York.
In addition, some injections are said to have been administered on days when the clinic was closed, or when the patient who was said to have received treatment was incarcerated in a state prison.
Generally, Medicare reimburses medical providers for Botox injections only when deemed necessary to treat documented cases of chronic migraines.
However, Mailyan billed and received payments for thousands of injections that were never administered, administered solely for cosmetic purposes, or administered to patients whose primary care physicians did not refer them for chronic migraine treatment.
On his social media accounts, Mailyan even described himself as “BOTOX FILLER NONSURGICAL NOSE COSMETIC DOCTOR.
Prosecutors say that in an effort to cover up the fraud, he forged patient medical records—including patient consent forms—to make it appear that patients were receiving migraine treatment at his office.
He was accused of turning back some requests to charge for injections before patients contacted his clinic to request an appointment.
Mailyan used the millions of dollars he got from the fraud to fund luxury vacations and buy luxury collectibles, including a $3,000 painting of Ludwig 1, prince of Bavaria, and a $12,000 17th-century crossbow, prosecutors said.
Mailyan faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of fraud and five years in prison for each count of tampering.
A sentencing date has not been set.
