The owner of a Los Angeles County tattoo-removal business was sentenced Thursday to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay over $2.17 million in restitution for tax evasion and defrauding Anthem Blue Cross after lying about having nine paraplegic employees who required special health benefits.
Joseph Tusia, 61, of Leominster, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in August 2024 in downtown Los Angeles to federal counts of tax evasion and health care fraud.
According to his plea agreement, Tusia engaged in a four-year scheme to defraud Anthem Blue Cross by submitting an application for Anthem’s small group health insurance plan that falsely identified paraplegic individuals as full-time employees of his South Gate tattoo-removal business.
The purported employees required durable medical equipment, which they bought from companies controlled by Tusia, and worked with Tusia to submit fraudulent claims to Anthem, federal prosecutors said.
Between 2018 and 2020, Anthem Blue Cross paid out more than $1.7 million to Tusia’s companies that provided the medical supplies, court papers show.
In his plea agreement, Tusia also admitted to failing to report more than $1.5 million in income he received from the companies.