Porter Ranch doctor pleads guilty to $1.4 million in Medicare fraud – Pasadena Star News

A Porter Ranch doctor has pleaded guilty to health care fraud stemming from fraudulent home health certifications and subsequent fraudulent billing to Medicare of at least $1.4 million.

According to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court this week, Dr. Lilit Gagikovna Baltaian allegedly conspired with at least four home health agencies from January 2012 to July 2018.

Baltaian, 61, was charged in 2021 after a lengthy investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Prosecutors seized more than 130,000 pages of bank records, subpoena responses, interview reports, employment, Medicare, tax and medical records, search warrant materials and cell phone data.

Baltaian denied the government’s allegations in a phone interview Friday, Nov. 22, and said he was framed by the owner of a Glendale home health agency who forged his signature on Medicare patient certification documents and then fled the country.

“It’s totally frustrating that they’re not here and I’m here and have to be held accountable for what they’ve done,” she said, adding that she hasn’t been affiliated with a home health agency since 2016. “This isn’t fair. I didn’t get any money.”

The home health agencies with which Baltaian collaborated are located in Glendale and Panorama City and were not specified in the plea agreement. U.S. Justice Department officials declined to comment Friday on whether the agencies face criminal charges.

Baltaian’s fraudulent certifications for patients were used by home health agencies to fraudulently bill Medicare for services that were unnecessary and, in some cases, not provided.

Baltaian, who could not immediately be reached for comment, prepared blank, undated physician certification forms in some cases so that institutions then forged the forms to appear to have seen Medicare beneficiaries and obtained clinical findings to support the need. For home health, prosecutors said.

“The defendant signed paperwork provided by home health agencies, including in-person certifications that falsely certified that the defendant met with beneficiaries face-to-face and that the beneficiaries were eligible to receive home health care regardless of the ‘actual circumstances,'” the plea agreement states.

In total, four house agencies submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare totaling $1.4 million using certificates signed by Baltaian.

In return, the agencies gave Baltaian various gifts and cash called “gas money”. The plea agreement also states that he was paid $42,792 directly by Medicare to single-handedly certify home health beneficiaries.

In 2021, the court barred Baltaian from working or owning a home health agency as a medical director or attending physician and barred him from filing Medicare claims. The woman, who faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 3, 2025.

Baltaian, who expects less than a decade behind bars, said he continued to work up to 18 hours a day to see patients and suggested federal investigators were “twisting” facts to discredit him.

“I do my best for my patients,” he said. “They know they are appreciated.”

First Publication Date: November 22, 2024 15:13 PST