YPSILANTI: Health care fraud scam took in more than $58 million in false Medicare billings; one resident named in …

By Mitch Hotts of Journal Register News Service

Twenty-two people in southeastern Michigan, including one Ypsilanti resident,were charged Wednesday in a health care fraud scam that took in more than $58 million in false Medicare billings from foster homes and home health care services, according to federal authorities and unsealed court documents.

The defendantsinclude owners and operators of companies, social workers, office employees and patient recruiters who are accused of submitting phony claims for services that were never rendered or not needed, officials said at a news conference in Detroit. Forty-five-year-old Ypsilanti resident Badar Ahmadani was one of those named in the indictment.

The schemes are vast and broad and cover a large geographic swath, said Barbara McQuade, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Federal law enforcers on Wednesday morning served search warrants at nine locations including Madison Heights and Shelby Township and seized 14 bank accounts as they arrested 17 suspects. Three others are fugitives and two have made arrangements to surrender.

According to an unsealed grand jury indictment, the defendants allegedly paid patient recruiters to obtain identification information from health care beneficiaries and used the information to bill Medicare and then pocket payments that were paid out.

Among those named in the indictment in a $23 million scam are Sachin Sharma, 36, and Dana Sharma, 29, of Shelby Township. The two owned Reliance Home Care, LLC on Dequindre in Madison Heights, and Sachin Sharma is also listed as owner of First Choice Home Health Care Services on Dequindre in Madison Heights, along with Associates in Home Care on Mound Road in Sterling Heights and Haven Adult Day Care Center in Detroit.

Court documents allege Sachin Sharma and two other defendants would pay kickbacks and bribes to recruiters for information on Medicare beneficiaries that would be used to bill Medicare for home health care, infusion therapy or psychotherapy services that were either not provided or not medically necessary.

Investigators said the recruiters would receive up to $200 for each beneficiary they provided. The recruiters searched homeless shelters and soup kitchens to find people with Medicare cards and obtain their information which was used for fake billings. In some cases, the recruiters would offer narcotic painkillers as a bribe to the people holding the cards.