Tag: Fraud

MM Curator summary

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[MM Curator Summary]: Joseph Tamjong of D.C. billed for 3,400 hours of personal care services while he was travelling internationally, including 156 times he claimed to work 24 hours in a 1-day period- Amount you spent on this (if you pay taxes)- $733,405.

 
 

Clipped from: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/maryland-man-pleads-guilty-defrauding-medicaid-more-700000-scheme-involving-personal-care

Defendant is 12th Individual to Plead Guilty Since August 2018

            WASHINGTON – Joseph Tamjong, 51, of Lanham, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to defrauding the D.C. Medicaid program out of $733,405. 

            The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division, Maureen R. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General for the region that includes Washington, D.C., and Daniel W. Lucas, Inspector General for the District of Columbia.

            Tamjong pleaded guilty in the U.S. District  Court for the District of Columbia to health care fraud, which carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Tamjong faces a likely recommended sentence of between 27 and 33 months in prison. He has agreed to pay $733,405 in restitution and $396,155 in a forfeiture money judgment. The Honorable Christopher R. Cooper, who accepted Tamjong’s guilty plea, scheduled sentencing for March 7, 2023.

            In court documents, Tamjong admitted that between December 2014 and February 2022, he was employed as a Personal Care Aide and/or a Participant-Directed Worker to provide personal care aide services to residents of the District of Columbia who needed assistance performing activities of daily living, such as getting in and out of bed, bathing, dressing, and eating. Tamjong admitted that he submitted false timesheets that claimed he provided these personal care services when in fact he did not.

            As part of his scheme, he even caused Medicaid to be billed for approximately 3,400 hours of services that he purportedly provided when he actually was traveling internationally. On 156 separate occasions, he also caused Medicaid to be billed for 24 hours of services that he allegedly provided in one day.

            The FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, the District of Columbia’s Office of the Inspector General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office are committed to investigating and prosecuting individuals who defraud the D.C. Medicaid program.

            Tamjong is the twelfth former personal care aide since August 2018 to plead guilty to defrauding Medicaid in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Six of those aides were sentenced to 13 months in prison; a seventh and eighth were sentenced respectively to 15 months and 10 months.

            The government urges the public to provide tips and assistance to stop health care fraud. If you have information about individuals committing health care fraud, please call the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General hotline at (800) HHSTIPS [(800) 447-8477] or the D.C. Office of the Inspector General at (800) 724-TIPS [(800) 274-8477].

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Michon Tart.

MM Curator summary

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[MM Curator Summary]: Lindell King and Yndera Diggs got kickbacks from Behavioral Medicine of Houston (BMH) to send patients their way. Amount you paid (if you pay taxes)- $538k to Lindell and Ynedra; $1M to BMH for the resulting services they billed for the patients they bought via kickbacks.

 
 

Clipped from: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/group-home-owners-sentenced-1-million-medicare-fraud-scheme

A Texas married couple was sentenced today for a $1 million Medicare fraud scheme, including violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

Lindell King, 53, of Missouri City, was sentenced to 60 months in prison. Ynedra Diggs, 45, also of Missouri City, was sentenced to 70 months in prison. King and Diggs were also ordered to pay $537,992.55 in restitution.

On April 4, King and Diggs were convicted after trial in the Southern District of Texas of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and multiple substantive violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, both Diggs and King were patient recruiters who owned and operated group homes in which Medicare beneficiaries lived. In exchange for sending their group home residents to the Behavioral Medicine of Houston (BMH), a community mental health center that purported to provide partial hospitalization services, BMH paid Diggs, King, and other patient recruiters illegal kickbacks in cash and by check, often concealed as payment for “transportation” or other sham services. During the course of the conspiracy, BMH fraudulently billed approximately $1 million to Medicare in claims related to patients it received in exchange for the kickbacks paid to Diggs and King.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery for the Southern District of Texas; Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Meadows of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Dallas Region; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge James H. Smith III of the FBI Houston Field Office; and Chief William Marlowe of the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) made the announcement.

The HHS-OIG, FBI, and MFCU investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Monica Cooper and Acting Assistant Chief Brynn Schiess of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, comprised of 15 strike forces operating in 24 federal districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

MM Curator summary

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[MM Curator Summary]: $250M stolen using a fake meals for kids scam.

 
 

 
 

Clipped from: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/11/04/plymouth-woman-admits-roles-in-food-medicaid-scams

 
 

A woman charged in connection with what prosecutors say was a “brazen” scheme to defraud federal child nutrition programs has pleaded guilty in that case, and to separate charges of Medicaid fraud.

Anab Artan Awad is among 50 people allegedly connected to the nonprofit Feeding our Future to be charged with stealing $250 million from two U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that provide meals to schoolchildren. On Friday, Awad, 52, became the fifth defendant to plead guilty.

Through a Somali interpreter, Awad admitted taking $9.3 million in federal funds for purportedly serving meals at distribution sites in Osseo, Faribault, and Minneapolis. At the Minneapolis site, Awad falsely claimed to have served 1.5 million meals from January to April of 2021, or about 12,600 per day. The location served only a fraction of the meals that Awad claimed on reimbursement forms.

At “Golden Meadows,” her purported site in Faribault, prosecutors alleged and Awad admitted that none of the names on the attendance rosters that she submitted matched the names of children enrolled in the Faribault School District.

When he first announced the charges in September, Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said the alleged conspirators used an online name generator meant for fiction writers to invent the names of children to include on attendance rosters.

In a separate case, Awad admitted submitting $99,000 in phony reimbursement claims to Medicaid for language interpretation services she never performed.

She agreed to pay restitution and forfeit a Rosemount home and a 2021 Dodge Ram pickup truck she bought with the stolen money.

Awad faces between 3 1/2 and five years in prison.

After a grand jury indicted her for the food fraud, a judge ordered her jailed for violating her release conditions in the Medicaid case.

MM Curator summary

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[MM Curator Summary]: Both instances involved payments for caregiver services while the supposed recipients of the care were in jail.

 
 

 
 

Clipped from: https://www.wibw.com/2022/11/03/southeast-kan-women-ordered-pay-restitution-medicaid-fraud/

 
 

FILE(MGN)

PARSONS, Kan. (WIBW) – Two women from Labette Co. have been ordered to pay restitution to the state’s Medicaid program after they were found to have been paid while either their caretakers or their patients had been in jail.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says that two women from Southeast Kansas have been sentenced and ordered to pay restitution for crimes against the state’s Medicaid Program.

AG Schmidt indicated that Lavanda E. Duncan, 55, of Parsons, was sentenced on Wednesday, Nov. 2, in Labette Co. District Court by Judge Steve A. Stockard on one felony count of attempted making a false claim to the program. he said she was ordered to pay a total of $2,547.16 in restitution to the program and to serve a year of supervised probation. She pleaded guilty to the charge on Sept. 7.

Schmidt noted that Duncan was found to be a Medicaid beneficiary who attempted to falsely bill the program on behalf of her three sons who served as her personal care attendants. The investigation found she had attempted to get payments on their behalf while they were behind bars in the Labette Co. Jail and unable to provide care for her.

In a second, unrelated case, the AG said Lacinda Morris, 32, of Parsons, was also sentenced on Wednesday by Judge Stockard to pay a total of $9,452.60 in restitution, to serve 18 months of supervised probation and to attend in-patient substance abuse treatment. She pleaded guilty to charges including one felony count of making a false claim to the program and one count of forgery on Aug. 18.

Schmidt indicated that Morris was found to have been working as a personal care attendant for her mother, a Medicaid beneficiary. While her mother was behind bars, Morris had submitted time sheets for payment from the Medicaid program as if she had provided care for her mother at the time.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Eve Kemple of Schmidt’s office prosecuted both cases.

MM Curator summary

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[MM Curator Summary]: Maximus employees are looking to get paid more to work in call centers that are helping Medicaid members, on the eve of the PHE wind-down no less.

 
 

 
 

Clipped from: https://www.npr.org/2022/11/01/1132931674/medicaid-and-medicare-hotline-workers-strike-over-pay-and-working-conditions

 
 

Workers who handle calls about Medicare and Affordable Care Act health plans walked off the job in Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky and Virginia today, demanding better pay and a less stressful workload.

The workers are employed by Maximus, a federal contractor. They are asking for a pay raise to $25 per hour and more breaks between calls. The call center workers answer about 15 calls per day, averaging about half an hour each. On busy days like today, which is the first day of open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act, workers said they can take up to 20 calls.

Maximus had operating income of $408 million in fiscal 2021, and has 34,000 employees globally. Sylvia Walker, a customer service representative who participated in the walkout in Bogalusa, Louisiana, said she feels she is not paid enough for how demanding her job is.

“You can wear so many hats on any given call. There could be a crisis,” she said, after which call workers are expected to file a report then turn to the next caller. “We are a counselor, we’re the doctor, we are the lawyers. We are everything to these people.”

Two years ago, she said one woman on the other end of the phone expressed an intention to commit suicide.

“We’re not equipped for that,” said Walker. Maximus said employees are trained to use scripts if a caller discusses the possibility of suicide.

Walker, who is 68, said she has been working for the company for nine years and has received pay bumps twice. She currently makes just over $17 per hour and works 40 hours per week. The Bogalusa resident is eligible for Medicare, but she said she can’t afford to retire yet.

In a statement, Maximus said it “welcomes the opportunity to work directly with our employees and discuss and hopefully resolve their concerns. Over the past several years, Maximus has improved pay and compensation, reduced employees’ out-of-pocket health care expenses and improved work processes and safety.” The company also said it did not anticipate any disruption in services.

Call center workers, who organized with support from labor union Communications Workers of America, delivered their demands to company leadership five days before the walkout. Employees at Maximus do not belong to a union, even though many have been organizing for months. The extent of worker participation in the walkout is under dispute. CWA said that more than 400 workers went on strike at four call centers. Maximus said that fewer than 200 employees participated in the job action.

“I want to see a union before I leave this place,” said Walker.

Camille Wade, 31, who has worked at the Bogalusa location for eight years, said she has experienced racism during calls.

A majority of Maximus workers across U.S. locations are women and people of color, according to a release by the Communications Workers of America.

“Sometimes if they’re able to tell and pick up by my voice that I am a Black woman, they’ll automatically want to go above me,” said Wade, who now works for Maximus’ internal support group after she was promoted from a customer service representative.

But
she said Maximus offers no strategies for preventing abusive or dismissive calls. “If we don’t put up with the abuse, we get fired.”

Workers in Bogalusa and two other Maximus locations went on strike earlier this year claiming poor working conditions and inadequate protection against COVID-19. Several days later, CWA filed a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board against Maximus for intimidating workers who walked out.

Maximus says employees can request bathroom breaks at any time and can take two 15 minute breaks in addition to their half hour lunch break.

But for some workers, like Walker, it’s not enough. “You can get someone who talks you down or looks down at you as if you’re less than,” she said. “Dignity is something that is important.”

MM Curator summary

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[MM Curator Summary]: She filed a LOT of bogus telehealth claims.

 
 

 
 

Clipped from: https://www.koaa.com/news/covering-colorado/colorado-department-of-law-files-medicaid-fraud-charges-against-a-pueblo-woman

 
 

PUEBLO, CO — Attorney General Phil Weiser announced charges against a Pueblo woman on Thursday, October 28th. The Colorado Department of Law filed the charges for Medicaid fraud.

46-year-old Renee Fosano is accused of submitting Medicaid claims for reimbursement for services that were never rendered. The State says that between March 3, 2020, to April 12, 2020, Fasano routinely filed claims as the owner of Southern Colorado Telehealth amounting to a total theft of approximately $577,935.82.

According to the Pueblo County District Court affidavit, Fasano took the Medicaid billing information of patients of her former employer Castillio Primary Care where she worked as a biller, and used this information to make fraudulent claims stating patients had rendered her services.

Fasano has been charged with two accounts of Medicaid fraud, one count as a class three felony and one as a class five felony.

“Those who steal from our Medicaid system take money away from some of those in our state who need it most to ensure they have proper medical care,” Weiser said. “My office will continue to hold accountable those who seek to take advantage of such a critical service.”

The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is dedicated to protecting the integrity of the system that provides healthcare to the most vulnerable Coloradans. It accomplishes this through the investigation and prosecution of Medicaid provider fraud as well as the investigation and prosecution of the abuse and neglect of Medicaid clients in non-institutional settings as well as the abuse and neglect of patients in institutions that receive Medicaid dollars. To report potential Medicaid fraud, click here or call (720) 508-6696.
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MM Curator summary

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[MM Curator Summary]: He stole $1.6M with bogus Medicaid claims for counseling services.

 
 

 
 

Clipped from: https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Media/News-Releases/November-2022/Mansfield-Medicaid-Fraud-Case-Yields-Prison-Senten

(MANSFIELD, Ohio) — The owner of G L Tate & Associates, an outpatient treatment center for substance-use disorders in Mansfield, has been sentenced to 6 years in prison for defrauding the Ohio Department of Medicaid and will repay $1.57 million, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today.

“Cases like this make my blood boil,” Yost said. “This money was designed to help people who are struggling with addiction but instead, he was just stealing it. He deserves every last day of this sentence.”

Geron L. Tate, a Mansfield resident, was sentenced in Richland County Common Pleas Court after pleading guilty to one count of aggravated theft, a second-degree felony, and one count of Medicaid fraud, a third-degree felony.

As part of the plea agreement, Tate will pay $1,572,386.21 in restitution to the Department of Medicaid’s benefits program.

Investigators with Yost’s Health Care Fraud Section determined that Tate billed the Ohio Medicaid program for counseling services that were never rendered. Based on recipient interviews, investigators determined that Tate submitted approximately 5,000 claims for services that were not provided. Additionally, investigators established that Tate billed for services while he was out of state, and also overbilled for hours in excess of 16 hours of services per day. Agents identified 25 separate times where Tate was traveling out of state, yet he billed that he was providing counseling services in Ohio at the same time.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of health care providers accused of defrauding the Department of Medicaid’s benefits program.

The Ohio Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $14,858,772 for Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. The remaining 25%, totaling $4,952,924 for FY 2023, is funded by the Ohio Attorney General

See the below links for soundbites from AG Yost:

“This case makes my blood boil because this guy is cheating”

MEDIA CONTACT:
Steve Irwin: 614-728-5417

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MM Curator summary

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[MM Curator Summary]: He and his co-conspirators falsified claims for mental health services and interpreter forms.

 
 

 
 

Clipped from: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/federal-jury-finds-maple-grove-man-guilty-wire-fraud-aggravated-identity-theft-14-million

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Maple Grove man has been convicted by a federal jury for his role in a $1.4 million Medicare fraud conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

Following a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Eric C. Tostrud, Eskender M. Yousuf, 40, was convicted on all seven counts of the superseding indictment, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The charged conspiracy consisted of nine total defendants. Six of Yousuf’s co-conspirators pleaded guilty prior to trial and two remain fugitives from law enforcement.

As proven at trial, Yousuf was a mental health practitioner who worked with Live Better, LLC, a patient services company with offices in Roseville and Minneapolis. As part of the scheme, Yousuf and his co-conspirators knowingly prepared and signed client progress notes for mental health services—and related interpreter verification forms—that were not actually rendered and submitted claims to the Minnesota Medicaid program for reimbursement of mental health services and the related interpretation of those services. As a result of the false and fraudulent claims, the Medicaid program paid more than $1.4 million for services that never occurred. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later time.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and the Minnesota Attorney General Office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angela M. Munoz and Jordan L. Sing tried the case.

MM Curator summary

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[MM Curator Summary]: When she was busted for Medicaid fraud at the business she owned, she went and did the same thing as a silent partner at another business- while out on bail. Twice.

 
 

 
 

Clipped from: https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Helping-Hands-Bridgeport-Medicaid-scam-17551318.php

 
 

A former Connecticut resident who continued to defraud Medicaid even after she was charged with related offenses has been sentenced to three years in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Nicole Steiner, formerly known as Nicole Balkas, 33, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release once her prison term ends and was ordered by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer to pay $505,955.56 in restitution, federal officials said. Steiner’s scheme cost Medicaid a total of $551,311.85 in losses, the Justice Department reported in August.

Steiner owned and operated Helping Hands Academy LLC, a Bridgeport business that provided applied behavior analysis services to children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and served as a provider for the Connecticut Medicaid Program, according to federal officials. Between December 2018 and October 2020, Steiner submitted fraudulent Medicaid claims for applied behavior analysis services that were never provided or not provided as indicated in the claim, officials said.

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Officials said Steiner, a former Stratford resident, also posed as a former employee to submit fraudulent claims in 2020. 

In August 2020, the state Department of Social Services, which administers the Connecticut Medicaid Program, terminated Helping Hands as a provider, according to court documents. Steiner made false statements and submitted an altered document in an attempt to reinstate Helping Hands as a provider and receive compensation for previously submitted claims, officials said.

Steiner pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud on April 28, 2021, according to officials. She was released on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing. 

While out on bond, Steiner served as a “silent partner” in a company similar to Helping Hands named New Beginnings Children’s Behavioral Health LLC, according to officials. Steiner was put in charge of billing Medicaid for services rendered, managing payroll and recruiting and screening employees. She resumed submitting fraudulent Medicaid claims for applied behavioral analysis services that were never provided, officials said.

Steiner was arrested on May 2, according to officials. She pleaded guilty to a second count of health care fraud on July 29 and was released on a $250,000 bond pending sentencing, officials said.

While out on bond a second time, Steiner submitted applications indicating she lived in Bridgeport to obtain Medicaid coverage for her and her children, according to officials. However, she was living in New Jersey at the time, officials said.

Steiner was remanded to federal custody after sentencing. 

caroline.tien@hearst.com

MM Curator summary

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[MM Curator Summary]: He told people he could get them Medicaid coverage for nursing home care, and charged them thousands of dollars each.

 
 

 
 

Clipped from: https://www.nj.com/news/2021/02/nj-wins-16m-judgment-against-adviser-who-allegedly-scammed-nursing-home-residents-seeking-medicaid.html

 
 

Joe and Leslie Walsh. They hired Advanta Medicaid Specialists to assist Joe’s father Joseph Walsh, Sr., obtain Medicaid for nursing home care, but claimed the company scammed them.Andrew Miller | For NJ Advance Media

The owner of a Lakewood company alleged to have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from nursing home residents and their families seeking help with Medicaid applications was hit with a $1.6 million default judgment, state officials said Monday.

Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and the Division of Consumer Affairs secured the judgment against Nissim “Sam” Aryeh of Lakewood, the owner of the now defunct Advanta Medicaid Specialists.

Essex County Superior Court Judge James Paganelli found Aryeh personally liable for 131 violations of the state’s consumer protection laws and regulations, the attorney general’s office said.

The $1,630,194 judgment includes $226,450 in consumer restitution, $1,310,000 in civil penalties and $93,744 in attorneys’ fees and investigative costs, the state said.

It also permanently bars Aryeh from the Medicaid advisory business in the state.

Aryeh could not be reached for comment.

In a civil lawsuit filed in December 2019, the state charged Aryeh and company agent Chaim E. Feller with transferring company funds into their personal accounts to bankroll their own expenses.

State investigators said the firm took more than $300,000 from clients and used the money to pay for meals at high-end restaurants, car payments and furniture, and payments to local private schools and synagogues, and to bankroll expenses at Harrah’s Resort casino in Atlantic City — before it closed.

The investigation started after families reported that Advanta did not provide promised services or it did not provide promised refunds for nursing home residents who were not approved for Medicaid. Consumers paid between $3,000 and $9,000 each for the promised services, it said.

“Hopefully the people he took advantage of in times of having to make difficult family care decisions will be fully reimbursed,” said Leslie Walsh, who paid $6,000 to the company to help with the Medicaid application for her father-in-law, who died before the application was submitted. “However, no amount of money is recompense for the anxiety, frustration and trauma Nissim Sam Aryeh caused for so many people.”

The Walsh family said they never got any money back even though they were promised a refund, although they later won a default judgment against the company that they never were able to collect.

The state’s complaint accused the defendants of violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and advertising regulations by failing to submit Medicaid applications for customers, falsely representing to customers that their applications had been submitted, refusing to honor the money-back guarantee and using company monies to bankroll their personal spending.

In a settlement with the Attorney General’s office announced in September, Feller agreed to pay $55,000 in restitution, to refrain from engaging in unfair or deceptive acts in violation of New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act and to provide the division with written notice of any future ownership interest in a registered business that offers Medicaid services to New Jersey consumers.

There was no admission of any wrongdoing.

At the time, the judge also entered a default judgment for over $1.66 million against Advanta itself, finding that the company committed 131 violations of the state’s consumer protection laws and regulations. He ordered $281,450 be returned to victims.

The case against Aryeh, though, was not resolved as his attorneys revealed that he was also under criminal investigation.

In filings with the court, his lawyer, A. Ross Pearlson, a former assistant U.S. attorney, said in a motion seeking a delay in the state’s civil proceedings that his client had no intention of settling with the state.

“The threat of Mr. Aryeh being criminally prosecuted is direct, real and ongoing,” Pearlson told the court. “Mr. Aryeh received a target letter from the DCJ (Division of Criminal Justice). In February, the prosecutor in charge of the case represented that the investigation was ‘active and ongoing.'”

The attorney general’s office did not immediately comment on Pearlson’s remarks.

“The defendant in this case participated in a scheme that callously preyed on elderly individuals seeking help in obtaining Medicaid coverage for their long-term care,” Grewal said of Aryeh. “We will continue to pursue these cases to hold businesses and owners accountable for their actions and send a strong message of deterrence to others.”

According to his LinkedIn page, Aryeh currently lists himself as the director of a candle company. Previously, he was listed as director of business development for a Lakewood software developer and a self-employed equity trader. In his filings with the court late last year, his attorney said he was fired and lost that job as a result of the pandemic and was in debt with no income or assets.

He was also no longer paying his lawyer, according to court records.

Reached through his LinkedIn account late last year, Aryeh declined to answer specific questions. But he said he wished to express his “sincerest apologies” to those who were hurt.

“Although it may take some time, I intend on giving a full refund to every person effected (sic) by this unfortunate situation,” he wrote.

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