Michigan Home Health Care Company Owner Sentenced to Over 3 Years for $7.9 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

A Michigan home health care company owner named Muhammad Zafar has been sentenced to 40 months in prison after engaging in a scheme that cheated Medicare out of nearly $7.9 million. According to theDepartment of Justice, the 53-year-old from Wayne County owned a company involved in a conspiracy with three doctors and two other company owners to submit fraudulent claims for unnecessary services that were never provided.

Zafar, who was charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, initially appeared in court on June 17, 2015. On the same day, Zafar became on international fugitive after violating court-issued bond and fleeing to Pakistan, where he remained for about seven and a half years. It was only recently that he chose to return to the United States to face his charges. He has been ordered to serve a three-year and five-month prison sentence following a plea of guilty to submitting approximately $393,500 in false claims from his company to Medicare.

The case was investigated by the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and the FBI Detroit Field Office. The Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, along with HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Mario Pinto and FBI Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson, announced the sentence. Jeffrey A. Crapko, a Trial Attorney of the Criminal Division s Fraud Section, prosecuted the case.

TheDepartment of Justicehighlighted the work of the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, which since 2007 has charged over 5,400 defendants who have collectively billed federal health programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. This case falls under the efforts of the nine Strike Force teams that operate across 27 federal districts. In conjunction with HHS-OIG, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are also working to ensure that providers are held accountable for their roles in fraudulent schemes.

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