Family members get prison time for running health fraud scheme

A Wheeling chiropractor and two of his relatives have been sentenced to prison time for bilking insurance carriers out of more than $10.8 million.

Dr. Vladimir Gordin Jr., 46; his father Vladimir Gordin Sr., 70; and his brother Alexsander Gordin, 34, pleaded guilty earlier this year to healthcare fraud, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The trio operated Gordin Medical Center S.C., a chiropractic group at 350 E. Dundee Rd. in Wheeling, according to prosecutors. They billed insurance carriers for services that were either never performed or were medically unnecessary.

Some patients knew about the overbilling and were incentivized to participate, prosecutors claim. According to an indictment, they were promised their deductibles would be met at no cost to them, or they got checks from the Gordins with a share of the overbilling proceeds.

In all, the scheme cost insurance carriers more than $10.8 million over a six-year period, according to prosecutors.

Judge Edmond E. Chang handed down the prison sentences Monday, according to the statement. Gordin Jr., of Northbrook, was sentenced to seven years; Gordin Sr., of Riverwoods, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years; and Aliksander Gordon, of Northbrook, got two years.

Alina Levit, 46, the Gordin’s office manager, created phony “sign-in” sheets that indicated patients were present and received services, when they actually did not visit the office that day, prosecutors claim. He pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanor embezzlement and was sentenced to 18 months of probation, including 90 days of intermittent incarceration on weekends.

A fifth defendant, 69-year-old Michelle Kobran of Vernon Hills, owned Ultrasound Mobile Service in Vernon Hills and kicked back money to the Gordins after they referred her patients for medically unnecessary ultrasounds, prosecutors said. She pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanor embezzlement and was sentenced to nine months in prison.