A surgeon who practiced at hospitals in Brooklyn and Long Island, New York, faces 40 years in prison for submitting more than $25 million in false claims to Medicare, according to the Department of Justice.
On Friday, Syed Ahmed, MD, was convicted of one count of healthcare fraud, three counts of making false statements related to healthcare matters and two counts of money laundering.
According to evidence presented at trial, Dr. Ahmed submitted millions of dollars in fraudulent claims to Medicare for incision-and-drainage and wound debridement surgeries that he never performed.
At trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Notopoulos said Dr. Ahmed billed Medicare for 5,000 surgeries over a three-year period — 600 of which were allegedly performed on an elderly woman, according to the New York Daily News.
Dr. Ahmed argued that his billing mistakes were not intentional and blamed his misunderstanding of Medicare billing codes for the problems.
Before his sentencing, a federal judge will calculate the amount of restitution Dr. Ahmed will be required to pay. If convicted on all counts, Dr. Ahmed faces more than 40 years in prison, according to the report.
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