Juan “Pop” Hernandez, 63, of New York City, New York, United States, Boris Aminov, 47, Brooklyn, New York City and Jonathan Gavrielof, 28, of Woodmere, New York are accused of participating in a years-long scheme to defraud Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance companies out of at least around $20 million. Seven other suspects are accused of being involved in the scheme.
Medicaid is a U.S. government program that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. Medicare primarily provides health insurance for Americans aged 65 and older.
From 2017 to 2023, Aminov and six others allegedly trafficked in black-market human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) medication and exploited low-income individuals who had been prescribed the medication. Aminov and another conspirator allegedly distributed the medications to pharmacies owned and operated by the other conspirators.
As part of the scheme, Hernandez and five others allegedly funded and paid illegal kickbacks to patients in order to recruit patients to their respective pharmacies. The six suspects allegedly tried to recruit new patients regularly to increase the number of prescription medications for which their pharmacies could fraudulently bill government insurance.
Details about Gavrielof’s participation in the scheme have yet to be released. He is the chief executive officer of Gav Management Corp., which was incorporated on October 7, 2021.
On March 2, 2023, Aminov and four others were arrested and presented in federal court in Manhattan, New York City. On October 19, 2023, Gavrielof was arrested.
On October 20, 2023, the unsealing of superseding indictment charging Hernandez, Aminov, Gavrielof and seven others was announced. Gavrielof was charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. while Aminov was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
Hernandez was charged with conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute. He remains at large.
CONAN Daily 