STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Two Staten Islanders, Kenan Tariverdi, 55, and Nazim Tariverdi, 32, have been indicted along with two others for their alleged roles in a fraudulent scheme involving no-fault insurance and money laundering.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced the unsealing of indictments on Thursday against the Tariverdi brothers, Dilshod Islamov, 43, of Brooklyn, and Alvaro Geovanni Quijada Lemus of Holmdel, N.J. The details regarding the Staten Island defendants’ communities were not immediately available.
According to the allegations, the group operated a no-fault insurance scheme that submitted over $10 million in fraudulent claims for psychological testing and services from 2019 to 2023. The proceeds were laundered through a network of illegal check cashers, including Lemus.
“No-fault insurance fraud schemes raise costs for everyone and exploit a system designed to make healthcare more accessible,” Williams stated. “The defendants orchestrated a deceitful scheme to cheat insurance providers out of millions of dollars, then allegedly worked with money launderers to profit from their crimes.”
The indictment claims that the Tariverdis and Islamov took advantage of New York’s no-fault insurance law, which allows drivers and passengers of insured vehicles to obtain benefits for injuries sustained in accidents, regardless of fault. They allegedly submitted claims from medical corporations they controlled, despite not being licensed to practice medicine.
Prosecutors allege that these defendants billed insurance companies for services that were never performed and used the license information of licensed professionals to create false billing records. They reportedly charged for unnecessary procedures to inflate insurance claims.
To launder the proceeds, the Tariverdis and Islamov allegedly controlled bank accounts belonging to medical professionals and directed them to sign blank checks. These checks were used to transfer funds into a network of shell companies for money laundering.
Lemus is accused of cashing checks from the defendants’ shell companies in exchange for fees, allegedly selling about 50 checks for approximately $200,000 to a cooperating individual.
Each of the Tariverdi brothers and Islamov faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and money laundering, which carry severe penalties. Lemus has also been charged with money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
All defendants were arrested and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave in Manhattan Federal Court, where they pleaded not guilty. They are currently free on a $500,000 bond and are scheduled to return to court on October 28.
Kenan Tariverdi’s attorney, J. Bruce Maffeo, expressed confidence in his client’s innocence, stating, “He has pleaded not guilty and expects to prevail at trial.” The attorneys for Nazim Tariverdi and Islamov did not respond to requests for comment, and information regarding Lemus’s case status was not available.