The largest prosecution of a home-health-care agency in Virginia ended in guilty pleas yesterday in federal court.

Rina Zavelsky, 40, a nurse, and her company, Renaissance Inc., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health-care fraud before U.S. District Judge Richard L. Williams.

They will be sentenced Oct. 24. Zavelsky is facing a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Renaissance faces a fine of up to $500,000.

As part of the plea agreement, Zavelsky's husband, Ilya Zavelsky, 46, a physician, was dismissed from the case. The couple live in Glen Allen, and their company provided respite care and other services to Russian-speaking communities in Virginia.

They were indicted this year for conspiracy to commit health-care fraud and money laundering. In pleading guilty yesterday, Zavelsky admitted she defrauded Medicaid by submitting false claims for payment.

She acknowledged providing services through unqualified and untrained personal care aides and making false training certificates to cover up the lack of training. The Virginia Department of Medical Assistance discovered the violations in 2003 and 2007.

From 2002 to its closing in 2008, Renaissance employed more than 350 aides acting as independent contractors and made billings for more than 250 Medicaid recipients in the Richmond, Tidewater, Harrisonburg and Northern Virginia areas.

Total billings for Renaissance to Virginia Medicaid totaled more than $14 million.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the Virginia Attorney General's Office.

Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell said, "This is an important step forward in ensuring the future of the Medicaid system in the commonwealth."

Chuck Rosenberg, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, lauded the close work of state and federal agencies in investigating the case. It was prosecuted by Brian Whisler, an assistant U.S. attorney, and Assistant Virginia Attorneys General Dale Mullen and Eric Atkinson.
Contact Frank Green at (804) 649-6340 or fgreen@timesdispatch.com.