Pharmacists – Rae Hamaed – Kindy Ghussin – Ali Abdelrazzaq, and Tarek Fakhuri Convicted of $13M Medicare, Medicaid, and Private Insurer Fraud Scheme.
A federal jury convicted four pharmacy owners yesterday for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud.
(STL.News) According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Raef Hamaed, of Maricopa County, Arizona; Kindy Ghussin, of Greene County, Ohio; Ali Abdelrazzaq, of Macomb County, Michigan; and Tarek Fakhuri, of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, all licensed pharmacists, billed Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for prescription medications that they did not dispense at pharmacies they owned in Michigan and Ohio. The defendants collectively caused over $13 million in loss to Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
Pharmacists Hamaed, Ghussin, Abdelrazzaq, and Fakhuri were convicted of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud. Abdelrazzaq was also convicted of two counts of healthcare fraud, and Fakhuri was convicted of one count of healthcare fraud. Sentencing hearings will be set at a later date.
Pharmacists Hamaed, Ghussin, Abdelrazzaq, and Fakhuri face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy count, and Abdelrazzaq and Fakhuri face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each healthcare fraud count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson of the FBI Detroit Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Mario Pinto of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.
The FBI Detroit Field Office and HHS-OIG investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Claire Sobczak, Kelly M. Warner, and S. Babu Kaza of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
USPress.News covered this story as well.
SOURCE: US Department of Justice
