Home Health Owner Faces 80 Months In Prison for Fraud

A home health care owner and operator has been sentenced to 80 months in prison for his role in a $12.6 million Medicare fraud and tax fraud scheme, according to the Department of Justice.

Eleven other individuals have also been convicted in this case.

Mohammed Sadiq, 67, of Oakland County, Mich., owned and directed two home health care companies in Detroit. Sadiq pleased guilty on March 13, 2015, to one count of health care fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. He was sentenced on Friday.

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In addition to imposing the prison term, U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood of the Eastern District of Michigan ordered Sadiq to pay $14.1 million in restitution and entered a forfeiture judgment for the same amount, which represents the proceeds traceable to his criminal conduct.

“In connection with his guilty plea, Sadiq admitted that, working with co-conspirators, he billed Medicare for home health services that were not provided,” the DOJ says in a press release. “Sadiq also admitted to paying kickbacks to patient recruiters in order to obtain the information of Medicare beneficiaries, which he then used to bill Medicare for services that were not medically necessary or were not provided at all. Sadiq further admitted that he created fake patient files to fool a Medicare auditor by making it appear as if home health services were provided and medically necessary.”  

Medicare paid $12.6 million for these services.

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Sadiq also admitted that he received proceeds of the fraud through bank accounts that he controlled, that he withdrew substantial sums for his personal use and that he failed to report these amounts on his individual federal income tax return in 2008, according to the DOJ.  

In total, Sadiq admitted that he owes approximately $1.5 million in taxes, interest and penalties for tax years 2008 through 2010.

Written by Cassandra Dowell