An Omaha man has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for healthcare fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Nebraska says 38 year old Nereus Sutko will also pay more than $800,000 in restitution and must forfeit a speedboat and a Corvette.
Investigators received reports of suspicious billings by Better Lives, LLC in 2017, which was operated by Sutko between 2010 and 2019.
The business purported to sell durable medical equipment to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. Sutko would host pizza parties and other gatherings at senior living and low-income housing facilities to gather the personal and insurance info for beneficiaries while pretending he would give them free items like heating pads or shoe inserts.
Sutko offered gift cards and other gifts to those who referred beneficiaries to him or names and information of beneficiaries.
He then billed healthcare programs including Medicare, Nebraska and Iowa Medicaid for fitted braces and other equipment that was never prescribed or given to beneficiaries.
Sutko was paid more than $1.8 million by Medicare and state Medicaid programs between 2010 to 2019.
“Sutko thought his scams would result in riches, but he failed to account for the commitment of our investigators to root out such fraud,” said Curt Muller, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “We will continue working with our Federal and State law enforcement partners to protect taxpayers and the integrity of government health programs.”