Mirza Muhammad, Health Care Fraud, New Jersey 2023
NEWARK, N.J. – In a shocking case of deceit, three men and one woman were arrested today for participating in a health care fraud scheme to defraud Amtrak by bribing Amtrak employees to allow people to submit fraudulent claims to the Amtrak health insurance plan, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Muhammad Mirza, 50, of Cedar Grove, New Jersey; Devon Burt, 49, of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania; and Hallum Gelzer, 43, of East Orange, New Jersey, were charged by complaint with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in Newark federal court. Punson Figueroa, aka “Susie Figueroa,” 55, of Long Island City, New York, was charged in the same complaint with 15 counts of health care fraud.
The defendants appeared by videoconference today before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark III and were released on $200,000 unsecured bond.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From 2019 to the present, Mirza, Figueroa, Gelzer, Burt, and others recruited Amtrak employees – primarily from New Jersey and New York – to participate in the scheme through the offer of cash payments, in exchange for the employees agreeing to allow Mirza, Figueroa, and others to use their patient and insurance information to submit fraudulent claims. Mirza, Figueroa, and others benefitted from this scheme by receiving payments from the Amtrak health care plan for services that were never provided or that were medically unnecessary.
Gelzer, Burt, and others benefitted from this scheme by receiving cash payments from providers in return for allowing those providers to use their personal and insurance information to submit fraudulent claims and in return for recruiting others to participate in the scheme.
The exact amount of money paid by the Amtrak health care plan as a result of the fraudulent claims is approximately $9 million.
The conspiracy and health care fraud charges each carry a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.
Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Category: Health Care Fraud
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →