Elseddig Elmarioud Musa, Healthcare Fraud, AZ 2024

PHOENIX, AZ – Elseddig Elmarioud Musa, 43, of Chandler, Arizona, is headed to federal prison after a jury convicted him of a brazen healthcare fraud scheme that bilked Arizona’s Medicaid system out of over a million dollars. U.S. District Judge Douglas L. Rayes sentenced Musa to 57 months behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release on April 24, 2017.

The sentence comes with a hefty price tag: Musa was also ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). The operation, run through his company Arizona One Medical Transportation LLC, falsely claimed payments for thousands of medical transports that never happened. Musa preyed on a system designed to help Arizona’s most vulnerable residents.

According to court documents, Musa’s company purported to provide non-emergency medical transportation for AHCCCS recipients, particularly those residing on the Navajo reservation. Between January 2012 and June 2014, Arizona One Medical Transportation submitted over 15,000 bogus claims to AHCCCS, raking in approximately $1,203,680.08 in fraudulent payments. This wasn’t a simple oversight; it was a calculated and sustained effort to enrich himself at the expense of taxpayers and those in need.

The charges against Musa were significant: 35 counts of healthcare fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft. The aggravated identity theft charges underscore the depth of the criminal activity – Musa didn’t just falsify claims, he illegally used the identities of others to facilitate the fraud. This added layer of criminality contributed to the severity of his sentence.

The investigation was a joint effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the AHCCCS Office of Inspector General (OIG). Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jillian Besancon and Peter Sexton of the District of Arizona, Phoenix, successfully prosecuted the case, bringing Musa to justice. Their work sends a clear message: defrauding healthcare systems will not be tolerated.

Case Number: CR-15-01265-DLR-PHX. This case serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing threat of healthcare fraud and the importance of vigilant oversight. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona can be found at http://www.justice.gov/usao/az and on Twitter @USAO_AZ.