DERAL CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST VIRGINIA HEALTH CARE CORPORATION AND ITS TWO OWNERS FOR OVER $14 MILLION IN MEDICAID FRAUD
According to the indictment, Ilya and Rina Zavelsky, husband and wife, owned Renaissance, Inc. (Renaissance), a business that provided health care services to Medicaid recipients throughout Virginia. Today's indictment alleges that from 2002 through the present the Zavelskys, doing business as Renaissance, Inc., were involved in a conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering.
(Media-Newswire.com) - ( Richmond, VA ) - Ilya Zavelsky, age 46, of Glen Allen, Virginia; Rina Zavelsky, age 40, of Glen Allen, Virginia; and Renaissance, Inc., a business located in Glen Allen, Virginia, were indicted today by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering. Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Nancy Nelson, Acting Special Agent-In-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Richmond Division; Charles Pine, Special Agent-In-Charge, Internal Revenue Service - Investigative Division, Richmond, Virginia; and Robert F. McDonnell, Attorney General, Commonwealth of Virginia, announced the charges.
According to the indictment, Ilya and Rina Zavelsky, husband and wife, owned Renaissance, Inc. ( Renaissance ), a business that provided health care services to Medicaid recipients throughout Virginia. Today's indictment alleges that from 2002 through the present the Zavelskys, doing business as Renaissance, Inc., were involved in a conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering.
The indictment alleges that Rina Zavelsky, an immigrant from Russia, came to the United States with other members of her family and, after initially settling in Michigan, relocated to Virginia with her husband Ilya Zavelsky. According to the indictment, Rina Zavelsky is a registered nurse licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Early in her career, the indictment alleges, Rina Zavelsky was a nurse working at the Medical College of Virginia ( MCV ) in Richmond, Virginia ( now known as VCU Health Systems ).
The indictment further alleges that Ilya Zavelsky, also an immigrant from Russia, is a medical doctor, licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia. According to the indictment, he at one time had privileges to practice medicine at a number of hospitals in the Richmond metropolitan region. It is alleged, however, that as Renaissance and its profits grew, Ilya Zavelsky left full-time medical practice and became the President and sole shareholder, working full-time for Renaissance.
After incorporating in Virginia in 2002, the indictment alleges, Renaissance signed up with Virginia Medicaid as a provider of personal care and respite care services for Medicaid recipients. According to the indictment, the Zavelskys began to market their services to Medicaid recipients in tight-knit eastern European communities in Richmond, Northern Virginia, Tidewater and Harrisonburg, Virginia. It is alleged that Renaissance advertised in the European Deli, a Richmond store frequented by eastern European immigrants. It is further alleges that Renaissance also advertised on russiandc.com, a website designed to promote the interests of Russian speaking persons in the greater Washington D.C. area. Renaissance also advertised in a statewide magazine popular among the eastern European communities, according to the indictment.
Additionally, it is alleged, Rina Zavelsky advertised Renaissance services by visiting religious worship services in Richmond, Northern Virginia, Tidewater, and Harrisonburg.
According to the indictment, the majority of Renaissance personal care aides and Medicaid recipients were Russian speaking immigrants from eastern European countries. It is alleges that the recipients lived among cloisters of Russian speakers, often in government-subsidized housing. It is further alleged that the aides spoke Russian, some spoke and understood only Russian, and acted as aides for the Russian speaking recipients, who signed up to receive services from Renaissance.
The indictment alleges that the proceeds of the conspiracy were secured through a number of fraudulent means, including billing for services at an unauthorized, higher reimbursement rate ( upcoding ), billing for services not provided ( phantom billing ), use of uncertified aides and recipients, and falsification of employment records. These and other deficiencies were allegedly detected in audits conducted by the Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Medical Assistance Services ( DMAS ) in 2003 and 2006. After the more extensive audit in 2006, it is alleged, Renaissance persisted in the same fraudulent practices, which yielded over $4 million in reimbursements since 2006.
According to the indictment, from the inception of the operation in June 2002, through the present, Renaissance, Rina Zavelsky and Ilya Zavelsky billed Medicaid for, and received, a total of approximately $14,356,204.00, in Medicaid funds. The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Richmond Division; the Internal Revenue Service - Investigation Division, Richmond Division; and the Virginia Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Brian L. Whisler and Special Assistant United States Attorney Dale Mullen are prosecuting the case for the United States.
Defendants are presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Related Content
Release Date
This story was released on 2008-02-24. Please make sure to visit the official company or organization web site to learn more about the original release date. See our disclaimer for additional information.