International fugitive Arthur Bogoraz has been convicted in an insurance scheme in which he set up fake radiology companies, sent false bills to insurance companies and then laundered more than $8 million in fraudulent claims, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (pictured) recently announced.
Bogoraz pleaded guilty to money laundering and fraud and will be sentenced to three-and-a-half to seven years in prison, according to an announcement from Schneiderman's office. In making the plea, Bogoraz admitted that between July 2006 and December 2010, he persuaded radiologists to work with him, promising payment for each MRI they reviewed as part of no-fault insurance claims.
Once the doctors agreed to work with him, Bogoraz then used their personal information to set up separate radiology corporations without their knowledge or consent, forging their signatures on incorporation documents, leases and bank documents. These radiology companies included Sharp Radiology, Vital Radiology, Essential Radiology, Aurora Radiology and Oracle Radiology of New York, some of which, as reported by AuntMinnie.com in May, were targets of a $4 million lawsuit filed by Allstate in 2011.
Bogoraz then filed no fault insurance claims and collected the payments in accounts he set up using the doctors' names and personal information. In New York, no-fault insurance companies not only provide payments to persons injured in motor vehicle accidents to cover their medical bills and other necessary expenses, they may also provide direct repayment to the healthcare providers who treated said persons following an accident.
Although Bogoraz was indicted in January 2011 on 61 counts, he was able to flee the country in September of that year. He was later apprehended in Puerto Rico as he attempted to board a flight back into the continental U.S.
"Motivated by greed, this individual stopped at nothing to line his own pockets with stolen money, putting people at risk, defrauding the public and corrupting legitimate businesses," Schneiderman said in the announcement. "Mr. Bogoraz's conviction and jail sentence makes very clear that this office will capture and hold accountable those who completely disregard the law."
To learn more:
- read the announcement from Schneiderman
- see the article in AuntMinnie.com