Man Sentenced in Staged Accident Scheme

Buffalo, N.Y.-- Mikhail Aleshin, 32; of East Amherst, New York, who was convicted of health care fraud and a drug possession offense in July, was sentenced to 3 years probation, including 6 months of home confinement yesterday, by U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny, U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn of the Western District of New York announced. The defendant was also ordered to pay $16,380 in restitution within 90 days.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Rogowski, who handled the case, stated that the defendant had been convicted of health care fraud offense for his role in two staged automobile collisions in 2001 that were part a large scale scheme to defraud automobile insurance plans. On October 3, 2001, in Amherst, New York, the defendant’s car was intentionally struck by a rental car being driven by a co-conspirator. The defendant lied to police when he claimed the collision was accidental. In addition, the defendant knew that other co-conspirators at the scene lied when they falsely identified themselves as other co-conspirators who actually lived in New York City. As a result of fraudulent insurance claims filed by the defendant and other co-conspirators, Gallagher Bassett Insurance Company paid out $33,500 in personal injury and property damage claims. In addition, Travelers Insurance Company paid $43,403 to medical clinics for unnecessary treatment rendered to the co-conspirators.

On October 30, in Lackawanna, New York, the defendant was a passenger in a car driven by a co-conspirator who intentionally drove a rental vehicle in a concrete abutment. The defendant and two other passengers falsely identified themselves as still other co-conspirators who lived in New York City. The scheme was uncovered when one of the paramedics responding at the scheme recognized one of the alleged New York City residents as a tenant in his Buffalo area apartment. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement observed the defendant buying cocaine, which resulted in the defendant’s plea to the drug charge.

The conviction was the result of an investigation conducted by the Western New York Health Care Fraud Task Force consisting of agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Department of Labor - Office of Labor Racketeering, United States Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division, United States Postal Inspection Service, United Postal Service Office of Inspector General, United States Department of Defense - Criminal Investigation Service, United States Food and Drug Administration - Office of Criminal Investigation, and the New York State Insurance Fraud Bureau. The United States Department of Homeland Security - Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Amherst Police Department also participated in the investigation. Twenty other individuals have been convicted in connection with the same staged collision scheme.