Nurse Charged In $2.3 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme In RI, NY

EAST GREENWICH, RI — A nurse practitioner was arrested after federal prosecutors said he defrauded commercial health insurance providers and Medicaid out of more than $2.3 million by falsely claiming to have performed medical procedures on patients in Rhode Island, New York and Florida.

Alexander Istomin, 55, of Florida, will be brought to Rhode Island and will be charged with health care fraud, eight counts of mail fraud and money laundering. He was arrested on Wednesday, Aug. 11, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Since 2014, Istomin has defrauded health insurance providers and Medicare out of $2,309,468.16, prosecutors said. According to prosecutors, Istomin routinely submitted claims for health insurance payments for in-person patient services he claimed he performed in East Greenwich, New York and Florida. But on the dates Istomin claimed to be with patients, he was actually in another state or outside the United States, prosecutors said.

In other instances, Istomin billed insurance companies and Medicare for services he claimed to have provided to patients who themselves were out of state or out of the country, prosecutors said.

Istomin was also accused of waiving co-payments for some Medicare patients, despite knowing that Medicare prohibits the waiving of co-payments. By waiving co-payments patients otherwise would be responsible for, Istomin persuaded them not to report his fraudulent billing to Medicare, prosecutors said.

According to court documents, no patient services were provided at Istomin's East Greenwich business, the Rhode Island Diagnostic Center, or his New York office. Neither office is equipped to provide patient care. Prosecutors said Istomin rented and used the East Greenwich office space in name only for billing purposes and to receive insurance payments made payable to his Rhode Island business.