Investing.com -- A Michigan resident was sentenced to 80 months in prison in connection with his role in a $12.6 million Medicare fraud and tax fraud scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday.
Mohammed Sadiq, 67, of Oakland County, Michigan, pleaded guilty in mid-March, to one count of health care fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. Sadiq was also ordered by a district court judge to pay $14.1 million in restitution.
Sadiq admitted 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. Furthermore, Sadiq admitted that he created fake patient files to deceive a Medicare auditor by making it appear as if home health services were provided and medically necessary. Medicare paid nearly $13 million for these services.
In addition, Sadiq admitted he received proceeds from the fraudulent activities and failed to report the 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 from a three-year period from 2008 through 2010.
The case was investigated by the FBI's Detroit field office, Department of Health and Human Service's Office of Inspector General's division and the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation unit.
Since its inception in March 2007, the efforts of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, has resulted in nearly 2,300 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $7 billion.