Office Manager and Company Sentenced for Defrauding Medicaid & Medicare of $3 Million

TRENTON – Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Ronald Chillemi announced that The Center for Lymphatic Disorders, LLC, and its office manager have been sentenced for defrauding Medicare and Medicaid of millions of dollars.
According to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Chillemi, Farah Iranipour Houtan, 54, of Egg Harbor Township, N.J., was sentenced on Thurs. (Nov. 10) to three years of probation by Superior Court Judge Bernard E. DeLury Jr. in Atlantic County. Judge DeLury also ordered Houtan to serve 200 hours of community service. Houtan’s sentence was based on her guilty plea to third-degree health care claims fraud. Also Thurs., The Center for Lymphatic Disorders, LLC was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. The Center for Lymphatic Disorders, LLC, which is no longer in business, had its primary location in Egg Harbor.
In pleading guilty on Sept. 29, Houtan, the office manager for CLD and aunt of Dr. Khashayar Salartash, an owner of The Center for Lymphatic Disorders, admitted that between Jan. 2004 and June 2007, she recklessly billed the Medicaid and Medicare programs for services that were not provided to patients. As a result of Houtan’s fraudulent submission of health care claims, Medicaid and Medicare reimbursed CLD $3 million to which it was not entitled.
In a parallel civil proceeding, Dr. Salartash entered into a consent agreement requiring him to pay $3 million in restitution to the Medicaid and Medicare programs related to the fraudulent acts committed by Houtan and CLD. The consent order was entered on Sept. 29 before Judge DeLury. As a result of its plea, CLD has been barred from participation in the Medicaid program.
Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Chillemi and Deputy Attorney General Oriana Nadraga represented the state at the sentencing. Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Chillemi appeared before Judge DeLury Jr. to take the guilty pleas and enter the consent order.
The matter was investigated by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Chillemi, Assistant Attorney General Louise Lester, Deputy Attorney General Nadraga, Sgt. Joseph Jaruszewski, Analysts James Reilly and B’leia Williams, Auditor Kim Geis, and Legal Assistant Mona Patel investigated the matter for the State. The investigation started after analysts contracted by Medicare to monitor billing identified unusual billing submitted by The Center for Lymphatic Disorders, LLC.
The Medicaid Program is funded by the state and federal governments. The State of New Jersey administers the Medicaid Program through the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which investigates both criminal and civil Medicaid fraud and abuse.
Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Chillemi noted that some important cases have started with anonymous tips. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD, or visiting the Web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org. State regulations permit a reward to be paid to an eligible person who provides information that leads to an arrest, prosecution and conviction for insurance fraud.