New York Diagnostic Testing Facility Owners Plead Guilty in Multi-Million Dollar Health Care Fraud Scheme

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Tea Kaganovich and Ramazi Mitaishvili, the co-owners of diagnostic testing facilities in Brooklyn, each pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the lawful functions of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The pleas took place before United States Magistrate Judge Steven M. Gold.

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Brian A. Benczkowski, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, New York Region (HHS-OIG), and Jonathan D. Larsen, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announced the guilty pleas.

Kaganovich and Mitaishvili, a married couple, were the co-owners of several diagnostic testing facilities, including Sophisticated Imaging Inc., East Coast Diagnostics Inc., East Shore Diagnostics Inc., East West Management Inc. and RM Global Health Inc.  As part of their guilty pleas, Kaganovich and Mitaishvili admitted that they submitted fraudulent health care claims for diagnostic testing services.  The defendants admitted that they paid approximately $18.5 million in kickbacks for the referral of beneficiaries who submitted themselves to diagnostic testing and other purported medical services.  Kaganovich and Mitaishvili falsely reported to the IRS that the illegal kickback payments were legitimate business expenses, which caused relevant tax forms to falsely under-report business income and claim deductions.     

The FBI, HHS-OIG and IRS-CI investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.  Trial Attorneys Debra Jaroslawicz and Sarah Wilson Rocha of the Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.  Assistant United States Attorney Tanisha Payne of the Eastern District of New York’s Civil Division is handling the forfeiture matters.        

The Medicare Fraud Strike Force is part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.  Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 14 strike forces operating in 23 districts, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion.

The Defendants:

TEA KAGANOVICH

Age: 47

Brooklyn, New York

RAMAZI MITAISHVILI

Age: 58

Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 17-CR-649 (MKB)