Tariq Mahmood, MD, the former owner of several Texas hospitals, has been sentenced to 135 months in federal prison for his involvement in a healthcare fraud scheme, according to the Department of Justice.
Dr. Mahmood was involved in a fraud scheme that involved changing, deleting and incorrectly sequencing diagnostic codes in a way that did not reflect the actual diagnoses and conditions of patients and subsequently submiting false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for those services.
Dr. Mahmood and others were involved in the scheme from January 2010 to April 2013, according to the DOJ.
After a four-day jury trial, Dr. Mahmood was found guilty of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, seven counts of healthcare fraud and seven counts of aggravated identity theft. Along with serving his prison time, Dr. Mahmood was also ordered to pay $599.13 million in restitution to Medicare, Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas.
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