It’s no secret that Medicare and Medicaid can be a bit complicated. Many people have trouble just getting their bills paid. But, five people from Brooklyn, New York figured out a way to scam roughly $38 million dollars from Medicare and Medicaid. Between 2008 and 2016 Aleksandr Pikus, Mark Tsyvin, Maksim Vernik, Denis Satyr and Malvina Yablonskaya allegedly used several shell corporations to funnel money they received as illegal kickbacks to refer clients to certain medical offices.

Some of the clinics were run by co-conspirators Oleg Dron, a licensed occupational therapist, and Eduard Noykhovich, a licensed physical therapist. The group of scammers also allegedly gave Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries cash so they would undergo unnecessary medical services so that they would get more money.