Two LIers caught in largest Medicare fraud case ever

Two Long Islanders, one of them an employee at a Brooklyn hospital, were among 73 people accused of involvement in a criminal scheme that used stolen identities as part of the single largest Medicare fraud in history, federal authorities announced Wednesday.

Marta Roman, 40, of Merrick, is accused of selling a list of patient names that she obtained from the Lutheran Medical Center in Sunset Park to members of an Armenian-American criminal organization, according to two separate indictments filed Wednesday. The names were then used as part of the enterprise's scheme that bilked $35.7 million out of Medicare, said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

"They have successfully sucker-punched this country's Medicare program. But today that run comes to an end," Bharara said at a news conference. The accused gangsters tried to cheat Medicare out of $163 million, authorities said.

The criminal enterprise operated at least 118 medical clinics located throughout 25 states to file $100 million worth of bogus Medicare billings, Bharara said.

Members of the organization used stolen doctor identities to open up new bank accounts, the indictments say. Fake bills were then sent to Medicare detailing services performed on patients whose identities were obtained through Roman and others, authorities said.

Also charged was Harold Pina, 41, of Valley Stream. Pina was accused of enlisting a Belle Harbor doctor to conduct unneeded neurological tests on alleged accident victims at medical facilities in the city to help validate billings to Medicare, according to the indictments.

Pina and Roman were arrested at their homes at 6 a.m. Wednesday, said an FBI spokesman. A spokeswoman for the Lutheran Medical Center did not return calls for comment. Both Pina and Roman were to be arraigned in federal court in Manhattan Wednesday. If convicted, Pina would face 20 years in prison; Roman would face 4 years.