(Newswire.net — October 26, 2018) — Two residents of Brownstown, Michigan were sentenced to 10 and six years in prison for conducting a multi-million-dollar scheme to defraud Medicare for health services that were never rendered.
According to officials, between 2009 and 2017, Tasneem Tahir and Hafiz Tahir submitted fraudulent Medicare claims and paid illicit kickbacks for referrals of beneficiaries to home health agencies.
Hafiz Tahir was sentenced to 10 years in prison and must pay over $5.5 million. Tasneem Tahir was sentenced to six years in prison and must pay a judgment of over $2.5 million. The pair was also ordered to forfeit $226,000 in a Lebanese bank, cash in lieu of two vehicles, and two pieces of real property.
Both men pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, and one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks.
Two other co-conspirators have also pled guilty and are awaiting sentences. U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani ordered defendants to pay restitution of more than $14 million combined.
Medicare fraud costs taxpayers $50 billion each year. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force, ran by the DOJ Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, operates in 12 cities in the United States. Since its creation, the force has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have, combined, fraudulently billed Medicare for over $14 billion.
News of the sentencing comes as new high-profile Medicare fraud cases have led to convictions and lengthy prison sentences for attempts to defraud Medicare of $36.9 million.
A recent massive crackdown on federal healthcare fraud, which involved more than 600 defendants and exposed $2 billion in fraud schemes, has highlighted law enforcement’s crackdown on Medicare fraud.
In one case, a federal jury convicted Starsky D. Bomer, a Texas hospital administrator, for his role in a $16 million Medicare fraud scheme. Bomer was convicted of conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks, violating the Anti-Kickback Statute, and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.
Between 2011 and 2013, Bomer and his co-conspirators submitted false claims to Medicare. He paid bribes and kickbacks to patient recruiters. Bomer disguised the kickbacks as transportation and salary payments.
In a separate case, a Miami-based pharmacy owner pled guilty to his involvement in a scheme to defraud Medicare out of $8.4 million through kickbacks. The man admitted to paying kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries to encourage them to fill their prescriptions at Valles Pharmacy Discount. He also admitted to allowing his pharmacy to submit Medicare claims for expensive drugs that were not provided to beneficiaries.