A former Texas general practitioner — convicted of identity theft and healthcare fraud conspiracy that caused several east Texas hospitals to close in 2014 — has been resentenced to federal prison, according to the Longview News-Journal.
65-year-old Tariq Mahmood, MD, was sentenced to serve 11 years and three months in federal prison and pay $145,358 in restitution to Medicare, Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas.
According to court records, Dr. Mahmood owned several hospitals in the east Texas region. For more than three years, Dr. Mahmood and his accomplices submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicaid and Medicare.
Dr. Mahmood was found guilty of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, seven counts of healthcare fraud and seven counts of identity fraud in 2014. Many of the hospitals he owned later closed due to financial struggles.