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Defendant Admits to Participating in Medicare Fraud Scheme
Troy, Mich., resident Syed Aziz pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.
Aziz, a licensed physical therapist, admitted that he began working in approximately May 2005 as a contract therapist for a co-conspirator, Suresh Chand. Chand owned and controlled several companies operating in the Detroit area that purported to provide physical and occupational therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries.
Aziz admitted that he, Chand, and others created fictitious therapy files appearing to document physical and occupational therapy services provided to Medicare beneficiaries, when in fact no such services were provided. The fictitious services reflected in the files were billed to Medicare through sham Medicare providers controlled by co-conspirators.
Chand admitted to paying cash kickbacks and other inducements to Medicare beneficiaries in exchange for the beneficiaries’ Medicare numbers and signatures on documents falsely indicating that they had received physical or occupational therapy. Chand pleaded guilty on Sept. 28, 2009, in U.S. District Court in Detroit to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to launder money.
Aziz also admitted that during the course of the scheme, he signed approximately 400 fictitious physical therapy files, indicating that he had provided physical therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries, when in fact he had not. Aziz admitted that he was paid between $70 and $90 for each file he falsified. Aziz also admitted that between approximately May 2005 and December 2006, he falsified physical therapy files that supported claims to the Medicare program totaling approximately $1,895,000. According to court documents, Medicare paid approximately $817,000 on those claims.
Aziz admitted that throughout the conspiracy he was fully aware that Medicare was being billed for physical therapy services that he falsely indicated he had performed. At sentencing, scheduled for Feb. 3, 2010, Aziz faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a $250,000 fine.
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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