The CEO of several medical imaging companies in California has been sentenced to five years in prison for spearheading a billing fraud scheme that paid millions in kickbacks to physicians.
Four details:
1. Sam Sarkis Solakyan, of Glendale, Calif., was found guilty last year of paying physicians $9 million in kickbacks to fraudulently gain $250 million by billing for medically unnecessary MRI, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
2. He bribed physicians in exchange for workers compensation referrals, offering them either cash or referrals of new patients, from 2013 to 2016.
3. Mr. Solakyan and the physicians tried to conceal the fraud by entering into marketing or administrative services contracts, but the contracts required physicians to refer a minimum number of patients to his imaging centers.
4. Mr. Solakyan also was ordered to pay $27.9 million in restitution to insurers at his Jan. 28 sentencing.