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Fugitive Psychiatrist Sentenced to 86 Months in Prison for $258 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
BATON ROUGE, LA – Zahid Imran, M.D., 56, of Baton Rouge, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Baton Rouge to serve 86 months in prison for his role in a $258.5 million Medicare fraud scheme involving partial hospitalization psychiatric services.
According to documents filed in the case, Imran served as Shifa’s medical director and co-owner of Serenity Center and Shifa Texas. He would admit mentally ill patients to the facilities, some of whom were inappropriate for partial hospitalization, and then re-certify these patients’ appropriateness for the program to continue billing Medicare for services.
As part of the scheme, Imran and others would falsify patient treatment records to reflect services on dates where no such services were provided. Imran pleaded guilty on May 13, 2014, to count one in a superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
In addition to his prison term, Imran was sentenced to serve two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $23.8 million in restitution, jointly and severally with his conspirators. He will also be ordered to forfeit an additional $23.8 million as illegal proceeds of the fraudulent scheme.
The investigation into the three community mental health centers – Shifa Community Mental Health Center of Baton Rouge, Serenity Center of Baton Rouge, and Shifa Community Mental Health Center of Texas – resulted in 17 convictions of individuals employed by the facilities, including therapists, marketers, administrators, owners, and the medical director.
Imran’s lengthy sentence follows the sentences imposed last week on five other defendants in the case, including recreational therapists and an office administrator. They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3 years to an unknown amount.
Zahid Imran, M.D., was sentenced for:
- Conspiracy to commit health care fraud
- City and state: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Exact date: May 13, 2014
- Sentence: 86 months in prison, 2 years of supervised release, $23.8 million in restitution, and $23.8 million in forfeiture
- Dollar amount: $258.5 million
Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Category: Healthcare Fraud
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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