Michigan Home Health Owner Pleads Guilty in $22 Million Medicare Scheme

The owner of three Detroit-Area home health agencies pleaded guilty Wednesday for his role in a $22 million home health care fraud scheme.

Muhammad Aamir, 43, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., admitted that, beginning in 2008 and continuing through January 2013, he conspired with others to bill Medicare for home health care services that were not actually rendered, not medically necessary, and procured through paying illegal kickbacks, according to information contained in plea documents.

Aamir and his conspirators at three home health agencies – Prestige Home Health Services Inc. and Platinum Home Health Services Inc., both located in Troy, Mich., and Empirical Home Health Care Inc., located in Farmington Hills, Mich. – allegedly paid kickbacks to patient recruiters to obtain identifying information of Medicare beneficiaries and then fraudulently billed Medicare.

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“Aamir and others fabricated and falsified medical documents reflecting or supporting purported physical therapy and other services – including home health certifications and plans of care, therapy notes, evaluations, recertifications, discharges and other records – making it appear that the services had been provided and were medically necessary, when in fact they were not,” the Department of Justice said, adding that the three home health agencies then allegedly billed Medicare for those services.

The falsified claims to Medicare caused the federal insurance program to pay about $15,118,254, and overall, fraudulent claims caused Medicare to pay more than $22 million, according to court records.

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2015.

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Written by Cassandra Dowell

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