Denver Couple to Serve Three Years in Prison for Medicare/Medicaid Fraud

Denver residents Leonid Stolyar and Yelena Stolyar weren’t able to save their marriage, but they did keep their Medicare and Medicaid fraud scheme going despite their divorce and Ms. Stolyar’s lifetime ban against billing Medicare or Medicaid for healthcare services. According to their plea agreement, the Stolyars will spend approximately three years each in federal prison.

Between 2001 and 2009, the Stolyars collected about $3.8 million from Colorado’s Medicare and Medicaid programs by submitting false claims for medical equipment such as knee, shoulder, and ankle supports and incontinence products.

In 2001, Ms. Stolyar was convicted of health care fraud. As a result, she was sentenced to probation for a term of five years and was subject to a lifetime prohibition from participating as a Medicaid or Medicare provider. According to the Denver Post, the Stolyars simply changed their company’s name and continued to file false claims. The fraud continued unabated even after the couple divorced in 2005.

Following their January 2011 indictment and subsequent guilty plea, Ms. Stolyar received a 37-month sentence and Mr. Stolyar was sentenced to 35 months in prison. In addition, the couple was ordered to pay restitution totaling $480,000. A second home in Arapahoe County has also been seized.

Waters & Kraus is a national firm with highly skilled lawyers practicing qui tam litigation in four offices, including Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Baltimore. Our attorneys have decades of experience successfully representing whistleblowers in a variety of fraud cases. Contact us or call our attorneys at 800.226.9880 to learn more about our practice and how we can assist.