The owner of four Detroit area-based home health companies was sentenced to 30 years behind bars for a $33 million Medicare fraud scheme he played a role in.
Zafar Mehmood, owner of Access Care Home Care Inc., Patient Care Home Care Inc., Hands on Healing Home Care Inc. and All State Home Care Inc., was involved in a Medicare scam that took place from 2006 through 2011, according to the Department of Justice.
Mehmood was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, four counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, two counts of money laundering and two counts of obstruction of justice, court documents show.
Through this scheme, Mehmood obtained patients by paying cash kickbacks to recruiters, who then paid cash to patients to convince them to sign up for home health care with Mehmood’s companies. Mehmood also paid kickbacks to physicians to refer patients to his companies for unnecessary home health care services, the evidence in court showed.
Along with co-conspirators, Mehmood falsified records to make it appear that patients were qualified to receive certain services that Medicare paid over $33 million for during the six years the conspiracy took place.