Social Worker Sentenced For Defrauding Blue Cross Blue Shield

CONTACT:       Barbara Burns  
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Nina Jafari, a licensed clinical social worker, 64, of Amherst, N.Y., who was convicted of health care fraud, was sentenced to 30 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael DiGiacomo and Aaron J. Mango, who handled the case, stated that the defendant defrauded Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York. Jafari submitted reimbursement claim forms to the insurance provider for services that were not rendered. The Government’s evidence included tape recorded conversations between the defendant and a patient. In those conversations, Jafari instructed the patient not to share any information with Blue Cross Blue Shield regarding dates of service.

The amount that the defendant defrauded the insurance carrier totaled approximately $138,000.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Health Care Fraud Task Force.