Three Family Members In A Wheeling Chiropractic Group Indicted For Phony Billing And Unnecessary Treatment In $10.8 Million Fraud Scheme

CHICAGO — A Wheeling chiropractor and his brother and father have been charged in a federal indictment with scheming to bill  insurance carriers for treatment that was medically unnecessary or never performed.

DR. VLADIMIR GORDIN JR., along with his father, VLADIMIR GORDIN SR., and his brother, ALEXSANDER GORDIN, operated Gordin Medical Center S.C., a chiropractic group located at 350 E. Dundee Road in Wheeling.  The trio used the company to falsely bill for medical services that weren’t provided, and fabricated their patients’ medical records to cover up the scam, according to the 21-count indictment returned yesterday in federal court in Chicago.

In some cases, patients knew of the overbilling and were incentivized to participate by having their deductibles met at no cost to them or by sharing in a portion of the overbilling proceeds via checks provided to them by the Gordins, according to the indictment.  Over a six-year period, the Gordins’ scheme bilked insurance carriers out of more than $10.8 million, the indictment states.

Vladimir Gordin Jr., 45, of Northbrook, and Vladimir Gordin Sr., 68, of Riverwoods, are each charged with 18 counts of health care fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft.  Alexsander Gordin, 32, of Northbrook, is charged with 14 counts of health care fraud.

Two other defendants are also charged in the indictment: ALINA LEVIT, also known as “Alona” or “Aloyna,” who worked for Gordin Medical Center as the office manager; and MICHELLE KOBRAN, who owned and operated Ultrasound Mobile Service Ltd., in Vernon Hills.

Levit, 45, of Vernon Hills, assisted the Gordins with falsifying medical records and creating phony “sign in” sheets, which falsely represented that patients were physically present and received certain health-care services on a given day, when, in fact, no such treatment was rendered, according to the indictment.  Levit is charged with 14 counts of health care fraud.

Kobran, 67, of Vernon Hills, billed insurance companies for medically unnecessary ultrasounds that were performed on patients referred to her company by the Gordins, according to the indictment.  Kobran then kicked back a portion of the insurance proceeds to the Gordins, the indictment states.  Kobran is charged with four counts of health care fraud.

From 2006 through approximately November 2012, Gordin Medical Center and Ultrasound Mobile Service submitted bills totaling $28,775,000, causing the carriers to pay $10,847,000, the indictment states.

All five defendants will be arraigned on future dates to be set in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

The indictment was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; John A. Brown, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; James Vanderberg, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General in Chicago; and Antonio Gómez, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago.

The health care fraud counts carry a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while the aggravated identity theft counts are punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of two years, plus a $250,000 fine.  If convicted, restitution is mandatory and the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather McShain.

To report health care fraud, logon to: StopMedicareFraud.gov.

Indictment