A Glendale doctor is facing federal charges for allegedly submitting more than $45 million in bogus claims to Medicare for Botox injections that were medically unnecessary or never provided, and for using falsified documents to attempt to obstruct an investigation, officials announced Thursday.
Violetta Mailyan, 45, was charged Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court with nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of obstructing a criminal investigation of health care offenses, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mailyan operated Healthy Way Medical Center in Glendale, which allegedly billed Medicare for Botox injections, sometimes on dates when the defendant was traveling internationally or on dates when the beneficiaries who supposedly received the services were traveling or in prison, and on dates when the medical center was closed, the DOJ alleged.
If convicted as charged, Mailyan would face up to 20 years in prison on each wire fraud count and five years in prison on each obstruction count, prosecutors said.
Mailyan is expected to be arraigned on the superseding indictment in the coming days in downtown Los Angeles. A May 12 trial date was set previously.
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