Alexander M. Milman, 46, and his wife, Valentina M. Milman, 39, were living large for awhile. They had a home and a condo in Bellevue, for example, and they'd bought a new house at 9049 N.E. Juanita Drive in Kirkland. The couple also had a fondness for upscale furniture and expensive jewelry that included a Rolex watch.
But according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, their lavish lifestyle wasn't financed by the money they made as owners and operators of A-Z Pharmacy businesses in Bellevue, Tacoma and Kent.
Instead, according to court documents, the pair scammed Medicaid for more than $1.1 million for latex gloves, adult diapers, liners, underpads and other medical supplies that were never delivered to patients. They were also allegedly paid $417,000 by Medicaid for prescription drugs that were never dispensed.
It could have been worse; the couple originally billed Medicaid $554,000 for the prescription drugs and $1.3 million for the other supplies, according to court documents.
The allegedly fraudulent scheme lasted from May 2002 to Nov. 10, 2004, according to Grand Jury findings, and the couple was indicted for health-care fraud on July 14 this year following a multi-agency investigation that included the Washington State Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
The alleged scam started out with a promotion program. According to the court documents, the couple recruited Medicaid patients by offering gift certificates that could be used to buy supplies and prescription drugs at the three A-Z Pharmacy outlets.
Then they used information from the gift-certificate redemptions to set up fraudulent records that also included physician prescriptions and delivery receipts to support the bogus Medicaid claims, according to the court documents.
The pair also allegedly laundered their ill-gotten gains by transferring the funds through different bank accounts, one of which was in their daughter's name.
The money was used for, among other purposes, to buy three $40,000 cashier's checks made payable to the Best Furniture Store, for condo dues for the Bellevue condo, for mortgage payments for their Bellevue home and for a down payment and mortgage payments on the Kirkland house, according to a detailed accounting in court documents.
If convicted of one or more of 14 money-laundering offenses, the Milmans will be required to pay $131,000, along with forfeiting their Bellevue home and condo, their Kirkland home and more than $137,000 on deposit in three bank accounts, according to court documents. The Rolex will also be seized.
The Milmans have been released on personal-recognizance bonds, said U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Emily Langlie. An additional hearing to review the conditions of their release is scheduled for this month, she said.
The A-Z Pharmacy businesses are under new management, but the ownership of the pharmacies still needs to be determined, as well as whether the Milmans can dispense prescription drugs and sell medical supplies without involvement in the billing, Langlie said. "That's one of the issues about their release."
In the meantime, Valentina .Milman continues to work as a pharmacist for the business, Langlie added. The job might not last much longer. If convicted of all the charges, the Milmans each face up to 20 years in prison, according to a press release.
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or (206) 461-1309.[[In-content Ad]]
