Greenfield man sentenced to 15 months in prison for $2.2M health care kickback scheme
A Greenfield man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for paying healthcare kickbacks, according to a news release from the Eastern District of Wisconsin U.S. Attorney's Office.
Mohammed Kazim Ali was sentenced Jan. 24 for paying health care kickbacks in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.
Ali was also ordered to pay over $2.2 million in restitution to Medicaid and Medicare and a $75,000 fine.
Ali and his co-defendant Justin Hanson were the owners of a Milwaukee-area clinical laboratory called Noah Associates, 10501 W. Greenfield Ave., West Allis.
Beginning in 2017, according to the release, Ali and Hanson engaged in a three-year-long scheme to pay kickbacks to the owner of a Milwaukee substance use treatment clinic in exchange for referrals of Medicaid and Medicare patients for urine drug testing performed by Noah Associates.
Ali and Hanson paid over $400,000 in kickbacks to gain the tests. These tests were not ordered by a physician and were not medically necessary for the treatment of patients.
After one physician learned that his credentials were being used without his permission to order the tests, the physician told Ali to stop, but for months Ali continued to have Noah Associates accept and bill the government for the falsified tests under the physician's credentials.
As a result of the scheme, Medicaid and Medicare paid Noah Associates over $2.2 million for the unnecessary tests. Ali received over $800,000 personally from Noah Associates during the scheme.
During Ali's sentencing, U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller condemned Ali's crime and his partner's manipulation and breach of trust of the Medicaid and Medicare programs to receive millions of dollars that were not truly earned.
Stadtmueller also noted that Ali knew his scheme was illegal, but continued to do it, a decision he deemed as "beyond belief."
The FBI said it will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to ensure that those responsible for health care fraud are exposed and brought to justice.
'This sentence demonstrates the FBI's commitment to investigating individuals like Mr. Ali who erode the public's trust in our healthcare systems,' Special Agent in Charge Michael Hensle of the FBI Milwaukee Field Office said in the release. "The safety and well-being of Wisconsin residents remains our highest priority.'
In addition to his sentence, Ali is excluded from participation in the Medicaid and Medicare programs and has since shut down Noah Associates.
Hanson also pleaded guilty for paying health care kickbacks and is scheduled to be sentenced March 21.
The FBI and Office of the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services investigated the case, while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Carter and Julie Stewart handled the prosecution.
Contact Adrienne Davis at amdavis@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @AdriReportss.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Greenfield man sentenced for $2.2 million health care kickback scheme
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