Two Detroit-area home health agency owners were sentenced to
10 and six years in prison, respectively, for their roles in a multimillion
dollar scheme to defraud Medicare by billing for home health services that were
never provided.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczowski of the
Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider of the
Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Timothy R. Slater of the
FBI’s Detroit Division and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG)
Chicago Regional Office made the announcement.
Hafiz Tahir, 49, and Tasneem Tahir, 44, both of Brownstown,
Michigan, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marianne O. Battani of the
Eastern District of Michigan, to 10 and six years in prison, respectively. Judge
Battani also ordered the defendants to pay restitution in the amount of
$9,674,575 and $4,447,667, respectively, jointly and severally with their
co-conspirators. Judge Battani entered
money judgments against Hafiz Tahir, in the amount of $5,575,562.33, and
Tasneem Tahir, in the amount of $2,605,176.70.
The Tahirs were also ordered to forfeit to the United States their
interest in $226,000 located in a Lebanese bank, two pieces of real property
and cash in lieu of two vehicles. The
defendants each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care
fraud and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care
kickbacks.
As part of their guilty pleas, Hafiz and Tasneem Tahir
admitted that they paid illegal kickbacks in exchange for the referral of
Medicare beneficiaries to home health agencies that they owned. They further admitted that between 2009 and
2017, they submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for home health services
that were never provided.
Hafiz and Tasneem Tahir were charged along with Hoda
Sabbagh, aka Donna Hamadani, 54, of Milford, Michigan; Emma King, 69, of
Detroit, Michigan; and Antonio Kho, 72, of Oak Park, Michigan. King and Kho pleaded guilty and are pending
sentencing. Sabbagh remains a fugitive.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are
presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of
law.
The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case. Trial Attorney Rebecca Yuan of the Fraud
Section prosecuted the case. The
financial investigation was conducted in coordination with the Forfeiture and
Financial Litigation Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern
District of Michigan. Assistant U.S.
Attorney Shankar Ramamurthy of the Eastern District of Michigan handled the
asset forfeiture proceedings.
The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section leads the Medicare
Fraud Strike Force. Since its inception
in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in 12 cities
across the country, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively
billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion.
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