Mohammed Sadiq owned 2 home health care companies.
AB Wire
WASHINGTON, DC: An Indian American entrepreneur based in Oakland Country, Michigan, Mohammed Sadiq, was sentenced to 80 months in prison for his leading role in a $12.6 million Medicare fraud and tax fraud scheme. Eleven other individuals have been convicted in this case.
Sadiq, 67, pleaded guilty on March 13, 2015, to one count of health care fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. In addition to imposing the prison term, U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood of the Eastern District of Michigan ordered him to pay $14.1 million in restitution and entered a forfeiture judgment for the same amount, which represents the proceeds traceable to his criminal conduct.
Sadiq owned and directed operations at two home health care companies in Detroit. In connection with his guilty plea, Sadiq admitted that, working with co-conspirators, he billed Medicare for home health services that were not provided. Sadiq also admitted to paying kickbacks to patient recruiters in order to obtain the information of Medicare beneficiaries, which he then used to bill Medicare for services that were not medically necessary or were not provided at all.
Sadiq further admitted that he created fake patient files to fool a Medicare auditor by making it appear as if home health services were provided and medically necessary. Medicare paid $12.6 million for these services.
In connection with his guilty plea, Sadiq also admitted that he received proceeds of the fraud through bank accounts that he controlled, that he withdrew substantial sums for his personal use and that he failed to report these amounts on his individual federal income tax return in 2008. In total, Sadiq admitted that he owes approximately $1.5 million in taxes, interest and penalties for tax years 2008 through 2010.
According to admissions in his plea agreement, Sadiq owned and directed operations at two home health care companies in Detroit. Sadiq admitted that, working with co-conspirators, he created and operated the companies for the purpose of billing Medicare for home health services that he knew were not provided. Sadiq also admitted to paying kickbacks to patient recruiters in order to obtain the information of Medicare beneficiaries, which he then used to bill Medicare for services that were not medically necessary or were not provided at all.
A Crain’s Detroit report from 2013 said Sadiq was one of 18 people and 15 local companies, mostly in Wayne and Oakland counties, tied to $49 million in alleged false claims to Medicare for various medical services following a nationwide “takedown” in eight cities by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force.
Apart from Sadiq, co-owner of Madison Heights-based First Choice Home Health Care Services Inc. (with previously charged defendant Sachin Sharma), Malik Al-Jumail and daughter Jamella Al-Jumail of ABC Home Care Inc. in Madison Heights and Associates in Home Care Inc. in Sterling Heights, were also implicated.
Federal prosecutors allege the Al-Jumails, Sadiq, Sharma and 10 other defendants submitted about $29.1 million in claims to Medicare for home health care, through those three companies and four others, for psychotherapy and other services between 2007 and 2012. That’s up from a total of $24 million in claims alleged last fall in a previous set of charges from the same investigation of those companies.
Also, Subha Reddy, vice president at Southfield-based clinical medical laboratory Health Diagnostics Inc., was at that time accused of billing Medicare for $8.2 million worth of diagnostic services that were not necessary, not performed, not ordered by a physician, were in excess of what a physician ordered, or were backed by false diagnoses or code numbers, between April 2009 and November 2012. Medicare paid about $5 million in reimbursements on those claims.
Also named were Nadia Arain, owner of Taylor-based Angle’s Touch Home Health Care Inc., and Sonjai Poonpanij, president of Southfield-based Home Physician Services PC, and three co-defendants accused of conspiracy and other charges in a scheme for Angle’s Touch to bill Medicare more than $1.6 million for services starting in 2010.