A medical supply company submitted $1.42 billion in false and fraudulent health insurance claims. An Ohio man has now admitted helping move millions of dollars generated by the operation through U.S. banks.
Eldar Zarbavel, 45, of Pepper Pike, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering after facilitating approximately $3.4 million in health care fraud proceeds for a transnational criminal organization, according to Cleveland.com.
Federal prosecutors say the organization, based in Russia and elsewhere, was behind a massive operation targeting Medicare and private health insurers. Zarbavel helped it access the U.S. financial system by opening bank accounts in Northeast Ohio for Royce Medical Supply LLC, a Florida durable medical equipment company.
Over just two months in 2024, Zarbavel facilitated the deposit, transfer and withdrawal of roughly $3.4 million in fraud proceeds. He is now the 16th person convicted in Operation Gold Rush, which the Justice Department describes as the largest health care fraud case it has ever prosecuted.
Royce Medical Supply became one piece of a far larger network of durable medical equipment companies used by the organization. Between July 2022 and July 2024, the organization submitted approximately $1.42 billion in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and other health insurers through Royce, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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