A former Long Island business owner, Oleg Beretsky, is facing serious charges after being accused of running a massive $22 million health care fraud scheme. Beretsky, 67, was arrested in Florida and is now facing multiple charges, including health care fraud, accepting illegal kickbacks, and money laundering. Authorities say he took advantage of elderly immigrants to trick Medicare into paying millions of dollars for medical services that were either unnecessary or never provided.
The scheme reportedly took place over several years, from January 2017 to April 2024. Beretsky owned a company, Obest, Inc., that was supposed to help doctors and medical professionals with billing and consulting services. But in reality, his company acted as a middleman, selling patient referrals to doctors in exchange for cash payments. Many of the patients he used in the scam were elderly immigrants from the former Soviet Union. He gained their trust, influenced their medical choices, and made sure they only saw doctors who were willing to pay him money under the table.
How the Fraud Worked
Authorities say Beretsky built his fraudulent empire by targeting a vulnerable group—elderly individuals who relied on him to guide them in their health care decisions. He allegedly worked with an employee from a nonprofit organization that helped senior citizens in Brooklyn and Queens. Through this connection, he gained access to a large number of elderly Medicare patients, convincing them to see only the doctors and health care providers who secretly paid him bribes.
His fees varied, depending on how many patients he sent to a provider or how much money Medicare paid that provider. To increase profits, he encouraged doctors to bill Medicare for treatments that patients did not actually need. In some cases, the doctors charged for services that were never performed at all. The total amount billed to Medicare through this scheme exceeded $22 million. Out of this, more than $12.4 million was actually paid by Medicare, with Beretsky and his co-conspirators pocketing the money.
Investigators say Beretsky even threatened at least one patient who wanted to continue seeing a doctor who had stopped paying him bribes. This aggressive behavior ensured that only providers who participated in the scheme had access to these patients, limiting their ability to seek genuine medical care.
The Legal Charges and Investigation
Law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Internal Revenue Service, worked together to uncover this fraud. Beretsky was finally arrested in Florida and will be brought to New York for legal proceedings.
If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for money laundering, 10 years each for health care fraud and accepting kickbacks, and an additional five years for conspiracy to commit these crimes. The investigation also revealed that to hide his illegal earnings, he often used cash payments and transferred money to bank accounts under his relatives’ names.
Authorities have emphasized that crimes like these harm not just Medicare but also the taxpayers who fund it. The case is being handled by the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with prosecutors and investigators committed to bringing justice to those affected by the fraud.
The charges in the indictment are accusations, and Beretsky is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
