A Glendale doctor has been convicted of federal charges for submitting more than $45 million in bogus claims to Medicare for Botox injections that were medically unnecessary or never provided, and for using falsified documents to attempt to obstruct an investigation, officials announced today.
Violetta Mailyan, 45, was found guilty late Monday in Los Angeles federal court of nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of obstructing a criminal investigation of health care offenses, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mailyan operated Healthy Way Medical Center in Glendale, which billed Medicare for Botox injections.
“Violetta Mailyan falsely diagnosed patients, fraudulently billed Medicare for Botox injections while she was actually on lavish vacations, and tried to trick federal agents with fake records,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “The Fraud Division’s data-driven approach shines a light on fraud schemes across the country, ensuring that no doctor can engage in these brazen schemes to steal taxpayer dollars.”
In addition to scheming to defraud Medicare, Mailyan altered medical records in an attempt to mislead investigators, authorities said. She owned and operated the Healthy Way Medical Center, which billed Medicare for Botox injections that were medically unnecessary and never actually provided.
This included billing for injections on dates when Mailyan was traveling to Cabo, Mexico; Maui, Hawaii; Las Vegas; Pennsylvania; and New York.
Furthermore, some of the injections allegedly took place on dates when the clinic was closed, or when the patient who supposedly received the treatment was actually incarcerated in federal prison.
Typically, Medicare reimburses medical providers for Botox injections only when they are deemed necessary to treat documented cases of chronoc migraines. However, Mailyan billed and received payments for thousands of injections that were either never provided, administered solely for cosmetic purposes, or given to patients whose primary care physicians had not referred them for chronic migraine treatment.
On her social media accounts, Mailyan even described herself as a “BOTOX FILLER NONSURGICAL NOSE COSMETIC DOCTOR.”
Prosecutors said that in an effort to conceal the fraud, she fabricated patient medical records—including patient consent forms—to make it appear as if patients received migraine treatments in her office. She was accused of backdating some claims to bill for injections before the patients had even contacted her clinic to request an appointment.
Mailyan used millions of dollars she received from the fraud to fund lavish vacations and purchase luxury collectible goods, including a $3,000 painting of Ludwig 1, crown prince of Bavaria, and the $12,000 17th-century crossbow, prosecutors said.
Mailyan faces up to 20 years in prison on each wire fraud count and five years in prison on each obstruction count, prosecutors said.
A sentencing date has not been scheduled.