5 people charged in $11 million Medicare fraud scheme
(CBS DETROIT) - Five people from Michigan and Arizona are charged in connection with a fraud scheme to embezzle more than $11 million from Medicare, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
Officials say a second superseding indictment charged Mohamed Kazkaz, 54, of Farmington Hills; Ziad Khalel, 52, of Rochester Hills; Dr. Mustafa Hares, 76, of West Bloomfield; Geraldine Letman, 70, of Phoenix, Arizona; and Gamela Ali, 33, of Dearborn.
Kazkaz is also charged with six counts of money laundering exceeding $10,000, which included transferring $1.4 million to a national restaurant chain. Khalel and Kazkaz were charged in a Jan. 11 indictment. On Thursday, the second superseding indictment added Letman, Hares and Ali as new defendants.
"My office is committed to prosecuting any individual, especially medical professionals, who exploits Medicare, a taxpayer-funded program that provides essential services to seniors and disabled individuals," said U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison in a press release.
Federal prosecutors say Kazkaz, who was the owner of the psychotherapy agency Centre HRW in Farmington Hills, offered Khalel kickbacks to refer Medicare beneficiaries to the agency for services not medically necessary or provided. Khalel, who was a patient recruiter, also required the beneficiaries to sign blank Centre HRW sign-in sheets, which Kazkaz then used to submit claims for services that were never given, according to a press release.
Additionally, Ali allegedly collected patient information to make sure Kazkaz didn't submit claims for an appointment the same day the patient had an actual appointment with another provider, while Hares and Letman completed false patient charts claiming to see the patient.
The company billed Medicare more than $11 million, with more than $5.3 million sent in payments.
"The payment of kickbacks to induce referrals for medical services in Federal health care programs, as well as billing for services not rendered, can undermine the trust we place in our nation's providers and results in costly reductions to our federal health care programs," said Special Agent in Charge Mario M. Pinto of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). "HHS-OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who commit fraud and pay kickbacks are held accountable."
