Eric Vainer and his mother oversaw the operation. Mr. Vainer sent recruiters to homeless shelters, soup kitchens and welfare offices to pick up homeless people with valid Medicaid cards and take them to medical clinics that were involved in the scheme. Prosecutors said there were multiple ways Mr. Vainer made money through the scheme, as he owns medical clinics and had financial arrangements with physicians, according to the report.
“We can use the same patients like guinea pigs for anything we want,” Mr. Vainer was recorded saying in a government wiretap, according to the report.
Kenneth P. Thompson, the Brooklyn district attorney, told The New York Times the investigation began after a woman was recruited to one of the clinics involved in the scheme and was told she would have to take a knee brace to get a pair of sneakers.
Physicians involved in the scheme allegedly billed Medicaid for procedures that were never done and would bill for much longer patient visits than had actually occurred, according to the report.
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