California doc whose spending sprees included 400-year-old crossbow charged with stealing $45M in Botox fraud scheme

[Ban Hammer 15,229]

This is wild.

A jury just convicted Violetta Mailyan, 45, of Glendale, California, in what the feds are calling the largest Botox fraud scheme in U.S. history. The woman raked in over $24 million from Medicare in just four years for "treating" chronic migraines with Botox injections.

From the FBI in Los Angeles via X:

In what is considered the largest #Botox fraud scheme in the United States, a jury in Los Angeles convicted a California doctor on Tuesday in a $45 million scheme to defraud #Medicare by submitting claims for Botox injections that were never provided and medically unnecessary, and for obstructing the investigation by manipulating and altering medical records in an attempt to mislead criminal investigators.

Violetta Mailyan, 45, of Glendale, owned and operated a clinic that purported to provide beauty and cosmetic services. Although Medicare reimburses medical providers for Botox injections when necessary to treat documented cases of chronic migraines, Mailyan billed and received payments for thousands of injections that were never provided or were provided only for cosmetic purposes or for patients whose primary care physicians had not referred them for treatment of chronic migraines.

Evidence at trial showed that Mailyan billed for providing injections when she was actually on vacation in Mexico, Hawaii, and within the United States, and when her clinic was closed. Evidence also showed that Mailyan injected a Medicare beneficiary who was incarcerated in federal prison at the time.

more at https://notthebee.com/article/california-doc-whose-spending-sprees-included-400-year-old-crossbow-charged-with-stealing-45m-in-botox-fraud-scheme?from_social=twitter