Statewide Grand Jury Indicts Insurance Broker for Fraud and Theft

A New Haven woman was arrested last Wednesday after allegedly orchestrating a scheme that defrauded nearly $65,000 from the Connecticut Medicaid program.

Vartaysha Reed, 26, appeared in New Haven Superior Court this week, according to a report from the state Division of Criminal Justice on Thursday.

She is charged with one count of health insurance fraud and one count of first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community.

Investigators from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit say Reed was employed as a personal care assistant, or PCA, when she allegedly filed inaccurate timesheets and was paid for work that she did not provide.

The PCA program is funded by Medicaid and provides recipients who have permanent, severe and chronic disabilities with money to hire PCAs to physically help them with daily self-care activities.

Assistance from PCAs allows these individuals to remain active in their communities and continue living in their homes.

Prosecutors say that from May 24, 2024, through Dec. 13, 2024, Reed submitted time sheets saying she was offering services to a recipient in that person’s home.

Investigators counter that the recipient was hospitalized and/or out of state for numerous stretches when Reed said she provided them care.

Furthermore, Reed is said to have continued billing Medicaid for months after the recipient died.

This is how she made $64,954 in claims, according to the DCJ report.

Prosecutors say that the act of profiting off the scheme constitutes as larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community.

They add that Reed’s submission of claims to the Connecticut Department of Social Services contained false, incomplete, deceptive and misleading information, which makes it health insurance fraud.

Reed was released on a $50,000 non-surety bond before appearing in court on Wednesday.

Prosecutors emphasize in their report that the charges against Reed are merely accusations and that she is considered innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If she is found guilty, both charges are Class B felonies. Each is punishable by up to two decades in prison.

The case was investigated and will be prosecuted by the Medical Fraud Control Unit, which expressed gratitude in its report for the assistance of the CT DSS’ Office of Quality Assurance and the Newington Police Department.

Federal prosecutors have charged the owner of a Klamath Falls medical lab with health care fraud, alleging the man submitted $46 million in fake claims to Medicare Advantage plans over a six-month period.

Authorities allege Jahangeer Ali used his business, Oregon Clinical Laboratory, to collect more than $28 million from fraudulent payments.

According to court documents, investigators have yet to find a single person named in those claims who received lab services. Those contacted by investigators had never heard of Oregon Clinical Laboratory, according to court documents.

Authorities say Ali paid individuals to check mail and sit in the “nearly empty storefronts” of Oregon Clinical Laboratory and another business in Utah.

Ali is a Pakistani national who came to the U.S. on a student visa. He was awaiting a decision on asylum.

Authorities arrested Ali at the Los Angeles International Airport before he boarded a one-way flight to Turkey.

In a request to be released on bail, Ali claims he wasn’t the mastermind behind the scheme but rather tricked into participating by a friend in Pakistan.

“[Ali] is a vulnerable individual from Pakistan who came to the United States on a student visa, lost status after he could no longer afford tuition, applied for refugee status because of ongoing conflict in his home region, and was then recruited and manipulated by others who used his name and Social Security number to set up sham laboratory businesses,” according to court documents filed by his attorney.

Ali claims to have been threatened if he didn’t help in the fraud and he eventually decided to flee the country in fear. Authorities believe he planned to return to Pakistan.

A U.S. District judge has denied Ali’s request for release.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating the case.

A Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) investigator and crime analyst played a key role in stopping a Russian national who filed $400 million in fake Medicare claims.

Nikolai Buzolin was living in Houston in 2025 when he created a durable medical equipment company and stole patients’ and doctors’ identities to submit fake claims to health plans that administer Medicare Part C. He opened eight bank accounts to deposit the $1.7 million he received in reimbursements.

“A few of the patients checked their explanation of benefits and noticed that they were getting medical equipment that they didn’t need. And it was coming from doctors they’d never met,” said TDI Fraud Unit investigator, Sgt. Kevin Mannion.

Buzolin appeared in court March 5 and faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

Mannion is part of the FBI Task Force in Houston that surveilled and investigated Buzolin. Once they had enough information to arrest Buzolin, the Task Force went to his house in Houston, but the suspect had already fled. A TDI crime analyst then tracked his car to Los Angeles where local FBI agents arrested Buzolin as he was boarding a plane to Russia.

Mannion and the FBI also worked with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Texas Office of the Attorney General.

“TDI works with federal, state, and local partners to follow cases wherever they go, whether it’s California or right here in Texas,” said Mannion. “We track them down, we shut them down, and we help dismantle these criminal activities.”

If you suspect insurance fraud, call TDI’s Help Line at 800-252-3439 Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time.

United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian announced criminal charges against an individual for perpetrating a large-scale fraud targeting federal health care funds distributed through the Medicare Advantage program. Anar Rustamov, a national of Azerbaijan who appears to have entered the United States illegally, was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury and charged with health care fraud for a scheme involving thousands of false claims for medical equipment totaling more than $90 million.

According to the indictment, Rustamov, 38, formerly of Sunnyvale, California and a national of Azerbaijan, was part of a scheme to submit thousands of fraudulent claims to Medicare Advantage Organizations (“MAOs”) on behalf of unsuspecting beneficiaries for medical equipment such as blood glucose monitors and orthotic braces. The indictment alleges that Rustamov, from October 2024 through June 2025, executed a scheme through an entity Rustamov created, Dublin Helping Hand, to submit large volumes of claims to MAOs offering Medicare Part C benefit plans. The indictment alleges the scheme sought reimbursement of more than $90 million for medical equipment that was not provided, not needed by patients, and not authorized by a medical provider. The listed patients were unaware that Rustamov and others were submitting the claims, and the referring medical provider listed on the submissions did not authorize the claims, according to the indictment. The defendant is at large.

“When the Administration declared a War on Fraud, it meant to target exactly this kind of conduct. Rustamov participated in a scheme to steal nearly $100 million in taxpayer funds from a program intended to help those who truly need medical care,” said United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian. “Anyone who believes they can make easy money by defrauding such programs should know that we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify, investigate, and prosecute such fraud and abuse.”

“This case alleges a calculated scheme to exploit a critical health care program for personal gain, attempting to siphon tens of millions of dollars through thousands of fraudulent claims for medical equipment. Programs like Medicare Advantage are funded by American taxpayers and exist to provide essential care to those who need it most — not to be manipulated for profit,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo. “The FBI and our partners will continue to aggressively pursue individuals who attempt to defraud these vital programs and hold them accountable.”

“The criminal charges announced today reflect the seriousness with which we pursue schemes that undermine the Medicare Advantage program. The scheme alleged in this indictment targeted funds intended to provide necessary health care services to Medicare enrollees,” said Robb R. Breeden, Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “This indictment underscores that HHS-OIG, in collaboration with our law enforcement partners, will pursue those who attempt to exploit federal health care programs — no matter where they attempt to hide.”

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1347. Any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maya Karwande with the assistance of Lynette Dixon. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.