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Michigan Man Guilty of $33 Million Medicare Scheme
Michigan resident Muhammad Tariq, 60, of West Bloomfield, has pleaded guilty to his role in a $33 million Medicare fraud scheme involving Detroit-area home health care and hospice companies.
The scheme, which was uncovered by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, involved the payment of kickbacks, bribes, and other inducements to physicians and patient recruiters for beneficiary referrals to companies owned by Tariq and his co-defendants.
Tariq, along with co-defendants Shahid Tahir, Manawar Javed, Waseem Alam, and Hatem Ataya, were charged in an indictment returned on June 11, 2015. The indictment alleged that the defendants, who operated home health care and hospice companies in the Detroit area, submitted false claims to Medicare for services that were often medically unnecessary and not provided.
According to admissions made as part of their guilty pleas, Tahir, Javed, and Tariq paid kickbacks, bribes, and other inducements to Alam and Ataya, as well as to marketers and patient recruiters, for beneficiary referrals to companies they owned, including A Plus Hospice and Palliative Care, At Home Hospice and At Home Network Inc. Tahir, Javed, and Tariq admitted that they would then bill Medicare for home care and hospice services that were often medically unnecessary and not provided.
Alam, a 60-year-old physician from Troy, Michigan, was the top referring physician to the entities owned by the defendants and was responsible for millions in Medicare reimbursements. As part of his guilty plea, Alam admitted that he received kickbacks and other inducements from the owners of At Home Network in exchange for home health referrals. Alam also admitted to bribing his patients into accepting services from At Home Network by providing them with medically unnecessary controlled substance prescriptions.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Trial Attorneys Shubhra Shivpuri, Malisa Dubal, and Tom Tynan of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.
Tariq is scheduled to be sentenced in July 2016. All five defendants were charged in an indictment returned on June 11, 2015.
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which has been operating in nine cities across the country since its inception in March 2007, has charged numerous individuals and entities with Medicare fraud-related crimes.
Defendant: Muhammad Tariq
Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud
City and State: West Bloomfield, Michigan
Date: March 2016
Sentence: Scheduled to be sentenced in July 2016
Dollar Amount: $33 million
Key Facts
- State: Michigan
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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