A federal jury in New York today convicted a man of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid by facilitating the submission of false and fraudulent claims for surgical operations that were never done.
According to court filings and evidence produced at trial, Harold Bendelstein, 71, of Queens, billed Medicare and Medicaid for hundreds of patients for an incision treatment of the external ear when all he really did was an ear exam or ear wax removal. Between January 2014 and February 2018, Bendelstein, an ENT specialist, billed Medicare and Medicaid nearly $585,000 and received approximately $191,000 in reimbursement. According to Medicare and Medicaid statistics, Bendelstein was an outlier and the highest biller for this operation in New York State.
Bendelstein was found guilty on one count of health care fraud and one count of false claim. He is set to be sentenced on November 7 and faces up to 15 years in jail. A federal district court judge will impose a sentence based on the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory circumstances.
The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York, Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert of the HHS-OIG Office of Investigations, and Acting Medicaid Inspector General Frank T. Walsh of the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG).
The case was investigated by the HHS-OIG and the OMIG.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Andrew Estes and Patrick J. Campbell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney John Vagelatos of the Eastern District of New York.
Through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, the Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud. Since March 2007, this operation, which consists of 15 strike groups operating in 24 federal districts, has charged over 4,200 defendants, totaling more than $19 billion in Medicare billing. Furthermore, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in collaboration with the HHS-OIG, is taking efforts to hold providers responsible for their participation in health care fraud schemes.
More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.