A federal jury in Detroit last week convicted two individuals who owned and operated a network of home health care companies, along with the operator of an adult day care center, for their participation in a $29 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Evidence at trial established that Abdul Malik Al-Jumail, 54, and his daughter, Jamella Al-Jumail, 25, both of Brownstone, Mich., owned and operated a series of fraudulent home health companies, including ABC Home Care Inc., Associates in Home Care Inc., Accessible Home Care Inc., Swift Home Care LLC and Be Well Home Care LLC, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
At the instruction of both owners, employees of the companies fabricated patient medical records to make it appear that certain home health care services billed to Medicare were needed and provided, which, according to court evidence, ultimately were not.
Additionally, evidence presented at trial also indicated that Abdul Malik Al-Jumail paid kickbacks to Felicar Williams, 51, of Dearborn, Mich., to obtain billing information about patients at Haven Adult Day Care Center LLC, a company Williams operated.
Haven purported to provide adult day care services for patients with mental health disorders such as schizophrenia and dementia. At Williams’ direction, the company billed Medicare for mental health services purportedly provided by other, unlicensed staff members, DOJ noted.
In addition, evidence also showed that on May 2, 2012, the day her father was arrested, Jamella Al-Jumail instructed an employee to retrieve falsified patient medical records from the company. Later that day, she and others helped burn the false records.
Collectively, the various companies billed Medicare for more than $29 million throughout the course of the conspiracy.
All three defendants were charged in a superseding indictment on May 1. After the 12-week jury trial, Williams was found guilty of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks in relation to the sale of Medicare billing information to Abdul Malik Al-Jumail.
Both Abdul and Jamella Al-Jumail were each found guilty of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Abdul was also found guilty of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, while Jamella was also found guilty of destroying documents in connection with a federal investigation.
Written by Jason Oliva
Companies featured in this article:
ABC Home Care, Accessible Home Care, Associates in Home Care, Be Well Home Care, Haven Adulty Day Care Center, Swift Home Care