Two executives at OrthoNet, a White Plains, N.Y.-based claim processing company, were sentenced to prison and to pay restitution for a scheme that defrauded their company of more than $4 million.
Between 2009 and 2017, Shawn Rains of Le Bouscat, France, and Joseph Maharaj of Golden Bridge, N.Y., participated in a scheme to create fake vendors that claimed to do work on behalf of OrthoNet and signed invoices approving payment for the fake work, which the company then compensated the fraudulent vendors for, according to an April 30 news release from the Justice Department. After the fake vendors were paid, Mr. Rains, Mr. Maharaj and co-conspirators laundered the money to hide the source of the fraudulent payments and split the proceeds amongst themselves.
Mr. Rains was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $4 million and to pay restitution of $4.6 million, according to the release. Mr. Maharaj was sentenced to 90 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $4 million and to pay $4 million in restitution.