WASHINGTON—Detroit-area resident
Muhammad “Sib” Ahmad pleaded guilty today for his role in organizing a more
than $13 million home health care fraud and money laundering scheme, announced
the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS).
Ahmad, 33, pleaded guilty today before
U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen of the Eastern District of Michigan to one
count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of money
laundering.
According to court documents, beginning
in July 2008, Ahmad and his co-conspirators acquired ownership and control of
three Detroit-area home health agencies: Physicians Choice Home Health Care
LLC, First Care Home Health Care LLC, and Quantum Home Care Inc. Ahmad admitted
that these home health agencies billed Medicare for visits that never occurred.
Between July 2008 and September 2011, Ahmad and his co-conspirators submitted
or caused the submission of more than $13 million in fraudulent home health
claims to the Medicare program by Physicians Choice, First Care, Quantum, and a
fourth home health agency owned by co-conspirators, Moonlite Home Care Inc.
Medicare paid more than $12 million to the companies that Ahmad beneficially
owned in whole or in part.
Ahmad admitted that he and his
co-conspirators directed the payment of non-licensed individuals who
represented themselves as doctors to Medicare beneficiaries. In addition, Ahmad
admitted to paying and directing various medical professionals, including
nurses, physical therapists, and physical therapy assistants, to create
fictitious patient files to document purported home health services that were
never rendered.
Ahmad also admitted that he and his
co-conspirators paid and directed the payment of kickbacks to beneficiary
recruiters who obtained Medicare beneficiaries’ information needed to bill
Medicare for home health services, including physical therapy and skilled
nursing, which were never rendered. The Medicare beneficiaries sometimes
pre-signed forms and visit sheets that were later falsified to indicate that
they received home health services that they had never received. Other times,
the Medicare beneficiaries’ signatures were forged on forms and visit sheets to
indicate that they received home health services that, in fact, were never
provided.
Additionally, Ahmad admitted that he
incorporated a shell company known as Century Home Care for the purpose of
laundering the proceeds of the health care fraud scheme.
Today’s guilty plea was announced by
Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal
Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L.
McQuade; Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena of the FBI’s Detroit Field
Office; and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh, III of the HHS Office of
Inspector General’s (OIG) Chicago Regional Office.
This case was prosecuted by Trial
Attorney Catherine K. Dick of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. It was
investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare
Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Since their inception in March 2007,
Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than
1,330 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for
more than $4 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase
accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
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