STUDIO CITY—On Monday, April 22, a Torrance man and former United Parcel Service worker was sentenced to 2 and 1/2 years in federal prison. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eddie Hernandez, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of healthcare fraud. Hernandez’s accomplice and co-defendant, Anna Vishnevsky, 51,of Valley Village also pled guilty to one count of healthcare fraud.
An 11-count indictment for both Vishnevsky and Hernandez was returned by a federal grand jury on December 14, 2017. Vishnevsky was released on a $200,000 bond, and Hernandez was freed on a $30,000 bond.
The duo was caught billing health-coverage providers for unnecessary and never-performed sleep studies. Vishnevsky is the owner of a sleep diagnostics clinic in Studio City, where she would help recruit patients. They offered the patients cash for participating in sleep-study testing and for referring co-workers or dependents to participate. Prosecutors stated that the defendants would recruit patients knowing that no doctor prescribed a sleep study for the individual.
Vishnevsky is expected to be sentenced on May 9. Investigators noted that more than $11 million was claimed fraudulently by Hernandez and Vishnevsky. Most of which related to beneficiaries of the UPS and Costco healthcare benefit programs. Hernandez could have faced up to 10 years in prison for each count.
