Tag Archives: criminal division

CCC’s: DOJ to Hire Compliance Expert

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Here’s a link to a Reuters story by Karen Freifeld reporting that United States Department of Justice is hiring a Compliance Expert. The compliance expert will help evaluate whether to charge corporations that fail to detect and prevent wrongdoing by employees. The DOJ compliance expert will advise whether he believes the company had a robust compliance program or one that was window dressing–or something in between.

A candidate has been reportedly offered the position and is undergoing the background check process. The position is in the Criminal Division of DOJ, which has responsibility for health care, securities and FCPA violations, among others. This development will not directly affect the Antitrust Division, which sometimes has policies different from the Criminal Division. But, the Antitrust Division recently, for the fist time ever, gave credit to a company in a plea agreement for a compliance program. I wrote about this in a previous Cartel Capers post: Senior Antitrust Division Official Comments on Credit for Compliance Programs.  This new compliance position within the DOJ is another important step forward in the recognition by the DOJ of the valuable role played by compliance programs.

Thanks for reading.

Owner of Detroit Home Health Care Companies Sentenced to 80 Months in Prison for Role in $12.6 Million Fraud Scheme

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A Michigan resident was sentenced to 80 months in prison late yesterday for his leading role in a $12.6 million Medicare fraud and tax fraud scheme.  Eleven other individuals have been convicted in this case.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Chicago Regional Office and Special Agent in Charge Jarod Koopman of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Detroit Field Office made the announcement.

Mohammed Sadiq, 67, of Oakland County, Michigan, pleaded guilty on March 13, 2015, to one count of health care fraud and one count of filing a false tax return.  In addition to imposing the prison term, U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood of the Eastern District of Michigan ordered Sadiq to pay $14.1 million in restitution and entered a forfeiture judgment for the same amount, which represents the proceeds traceable to his criminal conduct.

Sadiq owned and directed operations at two home health care companies in Detroit.  In connection with his guilty plea, Sadiq admitted that, working with co-conspirators, he billed Medicare for home health services that were not provided.  Sadiq also admitted to paying kickbacks to patient recruiters in order to obtain the information of Medicare beneficiaries, which he then used to bill Medicare for services that were not medically necessary or were not provided at all.  Sadiq further admitted that he created fake patient files to fool a Medicare auditor by making it appear as if home health services were provided and medically necessary.  Medicare paid $12.6 million for these services.

In connection with his guilty plea, Sadiq also admitted that he received proceeds of the fraud through bank accounts that he controlled, that he withdrew substantial sums for his personal use and that he failed to report these amounts on his individual federal income tax return in 2008.  In total, Sadiq admitted that he owes approximately $1.5 million in taxes, interest and penalties for tax years 2008 through 2010.

This case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG and IRS-CI, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Michigan.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys William Kanellis, Christopher Cestaro, Brooke Harper and Elizabeth Young of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Hurford of the Eastern District of Michigan.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,300 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $7 billion.  In addition, HHS’ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.