Federal prosecutors and agency officials announced on Friday, Oct. 20, the unsealing of legal documents, charging ten people, including four from The Bronx, in connection with their involvement in a scheme spanning around a half a decade in which they defrauded Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance companies out of at least approximately $20 million.

 

Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James Smith, assistant director in charge of the FBI New York field office, and Naomi Gruchacz, special-agent-in-charge of the New York regional office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Office of the Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”) said Boris Aminov, Christy Corvalan, Irina Polvanova, Roman Shamalov, Jonathan Gavrielof, Antonio Payano, David Fernandez, Crystal Medina, Juan Hernandez, aka “Pop,” and Albert Yagudayez, aka “Jeff” were named in the unsealed documents.

 

Prosecutors said Polvanova, Shamalov and Yagudayev were arrested on Friday and Gavrielof was arrested Thursday, Oct. 19. All four were due to be presented before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge James L. Cott. They said Aminov, Corvalan, Fernandez, and Medina were previously arrested in connection with an earlier indictment in the case, which is assigned to U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, while Payano and Hernandez remain at large.

 

Williams said, “As alleged, the defendants orchestrated a scheme to get rich by lying to Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance companies and depriving vulnerable HIV patients of legitimate and safe medications. The defendants allegedly made millions of dollars through submitting fraudulent insurance claims, paying illegal kickbacks, and buying and selling black-market HIV medications. Today’s charges send a clear message that this Office will be tireless in its pursuit of those who seek to line their pockets by lying to federal agencies and preying on vulnerable members of society.”

 

According to court documents, from at least in or about 2017, through at least in or about 2023, Aminov, Corvalan, Polvanova, Shamalov, Payano, Fernandez, and Medina allegedly engaged in a scheme that defrauded Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance companies out of at least approximately $20 million through allegedly trafficking in black-market HIV medication. In doing so, they allegedly exploited at least hundreds of low-income individuals who had been prescribed HIV medication, jeopardizing the health and safety of patients described as vulnerable.

 

The prosecution said Aminov and Payano allegedly distributed black-market HIV medications to pharmacies that were owned and operated by, among others, Corvalan (the “Corvalan Pharmacies”), Polvanova (the “Polvanova Pharmacy”), and Shamalov (the “Shamalov Pharmacy”).

 

They said after allegedly purchasing black-market medication from Aminov and Payano, Corvalan, Polvanova, and Shamalov then allegedly dispensed that medication to patients of the Corvalan and Polvanova Pharmacies or otherwise allegedly distributed it to other pharmacies. They said Fernandez and Medina were employees of the Corvalan Pharmacies, who participated in the day-to-day operation of the scheme.

 

As part of the scheme, according to the prosecution, Corvalan, Polvanova, Fernandez, Medina, Hernandez, and Yagudayev also allegedly funded and allegedly paid illegal kickbacks to patients in order to recruit patients to their respective pharmacies. Prosecutors said Corvalan, Polvanova, Fernandez, Medina, Hernandez, and Yagudayev allegedly regularly attempted to recruit new patients to increase the number of prescription medications for which the pharmacies could fraudulently bill government insurance.

 

They added that Corvalan, Fernandez, and Medina also allegedly paid patients to sell back their HIV medications to the Corvalan Pharmacies, thereby allegedly inducing patients to forego using the medications they were prescribed.

 

They said that from at least in or about 2021 through at least in or about October 2023, Shamalov and Polvanova allegedly engaged in a related scheme where they allegedly bought diverted black-market prescription HIV medication through online prescription drug marketplaces and then allegedly re-sold it to other pharmacies around the country.

 

Prosecutors said that in order to further their schemes and conceal their proceeds, Corvalan, Polvanova and Shamalov allegedly used bank accounts associated with their respective pharmacies to funnel money to shell companies controlled by Aminov.

 

They said the defendants allegedly spent the proceeds of the scheme to purchase luxury cars, including a 2021 Mercedes-Benz Maybach with an estimated fair market value of approximately $245,000; waterfront real-estate, including two properties in The Bronx, purchased for a total of approximately $2.4 million; designer clothes; and jewelry and gold.

 

Aminov, 47, of Brooklyn is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison.

 

Corvalan, 41, of The Bronx is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison; and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison.

 

Polvanova, 47, of Queens is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison; one count of mail fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison.

 

Shamalov, 47, of Queens is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of mail fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison.

 

Gavrielof, 28, of Woodmere, New York, is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison.

 

Payano, 34, of The Bronx is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison.

 

Fernandez, 24, and Medina, 28, both of The Bronx are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison; and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison.

 

Hernandez, 63, of Manhattan, and Yagudayev, 35, of Queens are charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison.

 

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided for informational purposes only. Any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

 

Williams praised what he described as the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and HHS-OIG. The case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey W. Coyle and Jackie Delligatti are in charge of the prosecution.

 

The defendants are deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.