A California man convicted multiple times for healthcare fraud was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his latest scheme.
Imran Shams, 65, of Glendale, was sentenced to prison for conspiring to conceal his involvement in operating a laboratory and billing Medicare $234 million for various lab tests despite his decadeslong exclusion from the Medicare program, according to a Jan. 30 Justice Department news release.
He was previously convicted of Medicare and Medicaid fraud in separate 1990 and 2001 cases in New York and California, respectively, according to the release. After each conviction, he was barred from participating in federal healthcare programs.
He was required to submit a written application to be considered for reinstatement but never did so, according to the release. Despite that, he continued to operate clinics in New York that billed federal healthcare programs. In 2017, Mr. Shams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks and other charges connected to his operation of these clinics.
In 2018, Mr. Shams was an owner, operator and manager of a Baldwin Park, Calif.-based clinical testing laboratory, according to the release. To keep the lab's status as a Medicare provider, Mr. Shams and a co-conspirator fraudulently concealed his role. Between 2018 and 2022, the lab fraudulently billed Medicare $234 million, of which Medicare paid $31.7 million.
In addition to his prison sentence, he was ordered to forfeit $31.7 million and pay $31.7 million in restitution.