8 JULY 5, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Robber pistol whips parking attendant and steals car
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Police are searching for a man
who assaulted a parking garage
attendant at gunpoint and drove
off with a stolen car in Rego Park over
the weekend.
The violent incident occurred on
June 30 at approximately 2:20 p.m. inside
a parking garage at 92-77 Queens
Blvd., when the male suspect reportedly
asked a 59-year-old male parking
attendant if he could take a car.
When the victim said that he could
not take a car, police said, the suspect
pulled out a handgun and told the
victim he was taking a car, police said.
The victim then ran into a hallway
in an attempt to escape the suspect,
according to authorities, but the
perpetrator caught up and struck
the victim with the pistol while trying
to drag the victim back into the
garage area.
When the gunman could not pull the
victim out of the hallway, law enforcement
sources noted, he went back into
the garage and found a dark-colored,
four-door Kia Sportage with the keys
inside and drove away westbound on
Queens Boulevard.
Board 5
meeting this
Wednesday
in Midville
Community Board 5 will hold
its monthly meeting this
Wednesday night, July 11,
in Middle Village.
As announced by District Manager
Gary Giordano, the session
takes place at 7:30 p.m. at the
Christ the King High School CNL
Center, located at 68-02 Metropolitan
Ave. (Enter through door 10,
take the elevator or stairs to the
third fl oor.)
The agenda includes the public
forum; a review of liquor license
applications and demolition
notices; reports from Chairperson
Vincent Arcuri and District
Manager Giordano; and reports
from the board’s Parks Services,
Environmental Services and
Transportation and Public Transit
committees.
For more information or to
register to speak in advance, call
Board 5 at 718-366-1834.
The suspect holds a gun to the victim’s head during an assault and car robbery inside a parking garage in Rego
Park on July 1.
Officers from the 112th Precinct
responded to the incident; EMS units
treated the victim at the scene for a
laceration to his head.
Police described the suspect as a
black man believed to be 25 years old,
standing at 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 160
pounds with a goatee. He was last seen
wearing a light-colored du-rag, a white
tank top, red shorts, black socks, black
slippers and a dark-colored backpack.
Anyone with information in regards
to this incident is asked to call
the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline
Image via NYPD
at 800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish,
888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can
also submit their tips by logging onto
the Crime Stoppers website or by texting
their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then
enter TIP577. All calls and messages
are kept confi dential.
Pharmacists with ties to Rego
Park busted for Medicare fraud
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@QNS.COM / @ROBBPOZ
Two pharmacists linked to
Rego Park were among 13
people charged on Thursday
in Brooklyn and Long Island for
bilking Medicare and Medicaid out
of millions of dollars in fraudulent
claims, prosecutors announced.
According to U.S. Attorney Richard
Donoghue, all of the suspects wound
up billing the two government-run
health care programs for $163
million in claims for unnecessary
medical care. In some instances, they
allegedly recruited individuals to fi ll
prescriptions or undergo physical or
occupational therapy, then provided
the purported patients with kickbacks
aft er cashing in on the fi led claims.
“As alleged, the defendants charged
throughout the Eastern District of
New York as part of the nationwide
health care takedown abused their
positions to enrich themselves, while
bilking Medicare and Medicaid,”
Donoghue said. “They did so without
regard to the elderly and vulnerable
citizens whose health depends upon
these essential programs.”
Among the arrested individuals
was Artem Ashirov, 42, of Rego Park,
is allegedly accused of bilking Medicare
and Medicaid out of $14.9 million
through claims submitted between
2015 and 2018 from ABO Pharmacy,
which he owns and operates in Brooklyn.
According to prosecutors, Ashirov
allegedly off ered to pay kickbacks
to customers for submitting various
prescriptions at his pharmacy.
Briarwood resident Yuri Barayev,
43, the owner of Woodhaven Rx
Pharmacy located at 62-06 Woodhaven
Blvd. in Rego Park, allegedly
submitted claims for medications
that he never dispensed to patients.
Between November 2013 and December
2015, federal agents said, Barayev
submitted more than $6.6 million in
fraudulent claims.
All of the suspects were booked on
a variety of criminal counts including
health care fraud, violating the
Anti-Kickback Statute, making false
claims, money laundering and conspiracy
to commit health care fraud.
The nationwide crackdown was
conducted by the Medicare Fraud
Task Force and resulted in 601 individuals
being charged for fi ling $2
billion in fraudulent claims.
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