A federal jury in Brooklyn returned a guilty verdict against pharmacy owner Yuriy Barayev on one count of healthcare fraud and seven counts of money laundering for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing for prescription medications that were not provided to patients. When sentenced, Barayev faces up to 10 years in prison for healthcare fraud and up to 20 years in prison on each of the money laundering counts. As proven at trial, from November 2013 to December 2015, Barayev engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting claims for hundreds of medications that were never dispensed through his pharmacy, Woodhaven Rx. The evidence further showed that Barayev laundered the proceeds of his health care fraud scheme through a shell company owned by his wife, and then spent the money on himself, his family, and friends.
