New York business owner sentenced in health care fraud laundering case

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NY business owner fraud sentence

Highlights

Elnar Zarbailov receives a 37-month prison sentence and must forfeit $1,457,898 after laundering nearly $1.5 million in health care fraud proceeds.
The DOJ identifies Zarbailov as a fixer for a Russia-based transnational criminal organization behind its largest-ever prosecuted health care fraud case.
The laundering scheme uses false sale records and fraudulent corporate documents to evade bank controls and funnel Medicare and private insurer reimbursements to overseas accounts.

Sentence details and laundering scheme

As reported by the U.S. Department of Justice, Elnar Zarbailov, 42, is sentenced to 37 months in prison for conspiring to launder nearly $1.5 million in health care fraud proceeds through domestic and international banks. In addition to the prison term, he is ordered to pay $1,457,898 in forfeiture.

Court documents say Zarbailov, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Azerbaijan from Staten Island, acts as a fixer and money launderer for a foreign-based transnational criminal organization. Prosecutors say that organization, based in Russia and elsewhere, is behind what the department describes as the largest health care fraud case ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

The scheme allegedly uses reimbursement checks from Medicare and private health insurers to place funds into the U.S. financial system with an initial appearance of legitimacy. Authorities say the organization then moves the money through accounts tied to fraudulent durable medical equipment companies before routing proceeds to shell companies and banks overseas.

Banking methods and enforcement action

Prosecutors say the organization uses false sale records and fraudulent corporate registration documents to open financial accounts in the names of nominee owners, including some who are not lawfully present in the U.S. That paperwork allegedly conceals the true beneficial ownership and control of the companies and their accounts, helping the network bypass bank controls.

Authorities say Zarbailov handles a key part of that process by depositing proceeds from five durable medical equipment companies linked to the operation and transferring the money to other accounts, including accounts overseas. He is arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in September 2024 while attempting to leave the U.S. for Azerbaijan, and he pleads guilty in October 2025 to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Our earlier report on the Alabama money laundering case covered the 15-year prison sentence imposed on Mohammed Zohair Adi for laundering millions in drug trafficking proceeds and for later giving false testimony in court. We detailed how prosecutors said he used corporate entities and bank accounts to move and structure funds for a trafficking network, and noted the broader enforcement outcome involving multiple co-defendants and upcoming sentencing.

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