Rezik Saqer, Health Care Benefit Scheme, Texas 2019

Houston Physician Sentenced for Health Care Benefit Scheme

A Houston-area physician and anesthesiologist has been sentenced to 84 months in prison for his role in a health care benefit scheme that fraudulently billed health care programs for at least $5 million dollars in medical tests and procedures.

Rezik Saqer, 66, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal of the Southern District of Texas. Saqer pleaded guilty on July 3, 2019, to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

According to the evidence presented at sentencing, Saqer's health care fraud scheme involved luring vulnerable patients to his clinics by prescribing powerful opioid narcotics, and then requiring the patients to submit to unnecessary and dangerous procedures and tests, which were often performed by Saqer's unlicensed staff and fraudulently billed to health care providers.

Saqer's scheme contributed to multiple overdose deaths, as well as the death of a young family in an auto accident involving one of Saqer's patients, according to the evidence.

Chief Judge Rosenthal also ordered the defendant to pay $5 million in restitution. According to the court's judgment, Saqer was responsible for fraudulently billing health care providers for at least $14,665,357.54.

The case was investigated by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, DEA, FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General, Conroe Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, and the Texas Department of Insurance.

The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 15 strike forces operating in 24 districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for nearly $19 billion.

The investigation and prosecution of this case involved the collaborative efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies, and highlights the importance of holding accountable those who engage in health care fraud.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/houston-area-physician-and-anesthesiologist-sentenced-84-months-prison-role-health-care