- What's at stake: A Brooklyn banker admitted to bypassing know-your-customer protocols to open accounts for shell companies that billed Medicare for fake claims.
- Key insight: The relationship manager allegedly communicated with coconspirators via encrypted apps and booked a one-way flight to Moscow before being caught.
- Supporting data: The fraud ring laundered more than $8 million from fraudulent medical claims through accounts linked to the banker, part of a record-breaking $14.6 billion scheme.
Overview bullets generated by AI with editorial review
Federal prosecutors announced this week that a former relationship manager at a Brooklyn Bank of America branch pleaded guilty to facilitating a massive transnational health care fraud scheme.
Renat Abramov, who worked at the Sheepshead Bay branch of an anonymized "Financial Institution 1," allegedly conspired to launder proceeds for a criminal organization that billed Medicare for fraudulent claims, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York.
A LinkedIn profile matching Abramov indicates he worked at Bank of America. A spokesperson for the bank said it has "zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior" and that the bank "fully cooperated with law enforcement on this matter."
The case is part of a massive,
Abramov, a dual citizen of the United States and Azerbaijan, allegedly used his position to bypass know-your-customer, or KYC, protocols to open these business accounts, using false owners who were actually foreign nationals.
The banking activity supported a massive scheme in which the criminal organization purchased real medical equipment companies to use their Medicare billing numbers, then processed the proceeds through the U.S. financial system.
The organization then used stolen identity data to bill Medicare for equipment — for the most part, urinary catheters — that patients never ordered or received. Finally, it laundered the proceeds through the U.S. banking system.
The insider threat and KYC failures
Prosecutors say Abramov opened business accounts for companies with such names as Argo and Medical Home Care, despite blatant red flags regarding these companies' true beneficial owners.
For example, when opening an account for Medical Home Care, Abramov allegedly failed to check the box for "nonresident alien" status on the signature card for the owner of record. He did this despite the signatory being a foreign national who could not present valid documentation proving U.S. residency.
Similarly, for the Argo account, the signatory had overstayed their visa, yet Abramov opened the account without flagging the person's nonresident status.
The organization also specifically steered coconspirators toward Abramov after other bankers rejected their applications.
In one instance, a coconspirator attempted to open an account at a different financial institution but was rejected. The organization then directed the individual to a different branch of Abramov's bank, where another relationship manager also refused to open the account due to missing documents.
Finally, the organization directed the coconspirator to Abramov's branch in Sheepshead Bay, where he opened the account, according to the complaint.
Money-laundering red flags
The case details numerous transactional red flags that would have been visible to Bank of America. Once he opened the accounts, the entities engaged in financial activity that was clearly inconsistent with legitimate medical supply businesses.
Investigators noted that the accounts received large deposits from Medicare but showed no consistent expenses for business operations, such as purchasing catheters, shipping fees or storage costs.
Instead, the funds moved rapidly out of the country once received. For example, between December 2023 and January 2024, the Argo account wired more than $865,000 to a Hong Kong-based business, Hengrun Trading.
Abramov also allegedly opened accounts for shell companies, including AGL USA and Royal Goods, which had no online presence and no apparent connection to health care. These accounts processed deposits from multiple supposed medical equipment companies similar to Argo and Medical Home Care.
Prosecutors said this is a hallmark of layering, in which a money launderer conceals the source of funds by transferring the money through multiple illegitimate accounts.
Broader industry risk
Several banks were compromised in the broader health care fraud. In related cases, prosecutors:
- Detailed in an indictment that conspirators used Bank of America accounts to receive millions in fraudulent payments.
- Seized approximately $1 million from a Citi account held by Florida Med Equip Corp after analysis showed 96% of its deposits came from Medicare, according to a forfeiture complaint.
- Identified large transfers from PNC Bank accounts to cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in a related fraud case.
- Identified suspicious activity at Wells Fargo and HomeStreet Bank, including accounts opened by foreign nationals that received large insurance checks followed by rapid wire transfers to Hong Kong.
These banks did not respond to a request for comment.
Operational risks and communication
Prosecutors did not detail any kickbacks Abramov might have received, though they did allege he was in close contact with members of the broader health care fraud conspiracy.
These contacts appear to have been fully external to the systems at Abramov's bank, leaving the institution blind to these red flags. The organization instructed its operatives to communicate via encrypted messaging applications such as Telegram to evade detection.
Between 2022 and 2024, Abramov had approximately 1,640 telephonic contacts (likely phone calls and text messages) with one coconspirator, who was a relationship manager at a separate financial institution, according to prosecutors.
During that period, he also had 288 contacts with another dual citizen of the U.S. and Azerbaijan. That contact allegedly performed money-laundering services for the broader health care fraud organization.
The scheme began to unravel for Abramov in September 2024. Investigators learned he booked a one-way flight to Moscow, Russia, scheduled to depart from JFK Airport, without requesting a leave of absence from the bank.
