SDNY DEFENDANT RECEIVED TEN YEARS FOR MONEY LAUNDERING IN HEALTHCARE CARE

In a world where convicted money launderers often receive short sentences, here is one where the punishment actually fits the crime. DJONIBEK RAHMANKULOV, a career money launderer convicted of M.L. Conspiracy, fraud, and operating an unlicensed MSB, got 121 months in the District Court for the Southern District of New York, plus a five million dollar forfeiture and a $40,000 fine, and three years of Supervised Release.

The reason for such a long sentence may have been because the defendant's co-conspirators fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid millions of dollars; healthcare fraud frequently results in serious prison time. In addition, the defendant not only threatened a witness, he submitted fraudulent letters of support not written by the purported authors. Some of the laundered funds went to Iran.

One of the purposes of sentencing is to deter others who might otherwise engage in the same crimes. In this case, the sentence imposed reflected the seriousness of the defendant's offenses.