Disbarred lawyer gets 70-month prison sentence

TAMPA — A disbarred attorney was sentenced to 70 months in prison for her role in a $28.3 million Medicare scheme that involved several outpatient rehab facilities in Florida, including one Venice and one in Fort Myers.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew of the Middle District of Florida handed the sentenced down Aug. 7 to Margarita Grishkoff, 60, of Charlotte, N.C., according to a release. Grishkoff, formerly of Southwest Florida, was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $14,424,856 in restitution, jointly and severally with her co-conspirators. Grishkoff pleaded guilty Jan. 24 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. A co-defendant, former Southwest Florida resident Luis Duluc, pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and making a false statement relating to health care matters.

Grishkoff, according to the U.S. Attorney's office, admitted in her guilty plea that she and co-conspirators submitted $28.3 million in fraudulent reimbursement claims to Medicare through physical therapy clinics throughout Florida from 2005-2009. Medicare paid approximately $14.4 million of those claims.