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United States Attorney Terrance P. Flynn
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: Peggy Kelly McFarland |
MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO OPERATING A MEDICAL
FRAUD MILL INVOLVING STAGED AUTOMOBILE COLLISIONS
BUFFALO, N.Y.-- MAXIM G. LEVIN, 29, of Tonawanda, New York, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny, to felony charges of health care fraud and conspiracy to distribute cocaine, U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn of the Western District of New York announced today. The health care fraud conviction carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. The drug distribution conspiracy conviction carries a maximum penalty of 40 years imprisonment, a fine of $2,000,000, or both
Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Rogowski, who handled the case, stated that the defendant operated First Buffalo Medical clinic, which was located on Main Street in Williamsville, for a 18 month period beginning in the spring of 2001. In pleading guilty. Levin admitted that he paid individuals to participate in a number of staged automobile collisions in order to bilk insurance companies through no-fault insurance claims. The participants falsely claimed that the collisions were accidental and that they had been injured in the collision. Many of the participants then went for "treatment" at Levin's clinic. Levin, rather than medical personnel at First Buffalo, decided what "treatment" would be given to the participants. Levin caused others associated with FBM to create reports of medical exams and treatments that reported injuries that were non-existent or greatly exaggerated, or which were not caused by the staged collision, in order to be reimbursed by insurance companies for medical treatment that, if actually rendered, was not made medically necessary on account of an automobile “accident.”
Levin further admitted that participants were enticed into the scheme by the promise that they would be the beneficiaries of person injury settlements stemming from the staged collisions. A number of participants did receive injury settlements from insurance companies and rental car agencies. The total loss attributed to Levin's participation in the scheme was $297,900. Levin is the twenty-fifth person to plead guilty in connection with the staged accident scam.
Levin also admitted that he conspired to possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine during the period of April 2003 and May, 2004. On a number of occasions during that period, Levin sold cocaine to an agent of the FBI working in an undercover capacity.
The plea was the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Western New York Health Care Fraud Task Force consisting of agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division, United States Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, United States Postal Service - Office of Inspector General, United States Department of Defense - Criminal Investigation Service, the United States Food and Drug Administration - Office of Criminal Investigation, the United States Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General, and the New York State Insurance Fraud Bureau. Other law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation were the United States Department of Homeland Security - Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Niagara County District Attorney’s Office and the Amherst Police Department.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 7, 2007, at 9:00 a.m. EDT, in Buffalo, N.Y., in front of U.S. District Judge Skretny.
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