Javed Rehman was sentenced to 60 months in prison and must pay $1.7 million last week for his involvement in a Medicare fraud scheme. Rehman had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in July of this year.
In total, Rehman and his co-conspirators, according to court documents, received over $13 million throughout the course of their fraud. Rehman purchased Quantum Home Care in 2009 with Tausif Rahman and Muhammad Ahmad and through it and three other companies they falsely billed Medicare for reimbursement.
The group paid kickbacks for information on Medicare recipients. They often billed for services, including physical therapy and skilled nursing services, that were never performed.
“Medicare fraud is an expensive drain on the health care system,” commented Christopher Paulos, an attorney with the Levin, Papantonio law firm who practices in the areas of qui tam or whistleblower and false claims act litigation.
Rehman’s accomplices have each plead guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud separately and await sentencing.
Their cases were pursued by by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which was specifically designed to combat the issue of health care fraud. Since the force came into being in 2007, it has been responsible for over $5 billion in recovered funds.
“A concerted effort has been underway to stem the tide of health care fraud in the country,” Mr. Paulos continued. “In many instances, fraud against public healthcare programs goes unknown and unexposed – continuing for years and costing taxpayers dearly.”
Joshua is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. You can follow him on Twitter @Joshual33.
