The federal government has secured a $1.2 million civil judgment against Tariq Mahmood, MD, the former owner of several Texas hospitals, according to the Department of Justice.
From January 2010 to April 2013, Dr. Mahmood and others participated 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. Dr. Mahmood and others submitted the fraudulently coded claims to government and commercial payers.
In July 2014, 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. He was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $599.1 million in restitution to Medicare, Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas.
Following his conviction, the federal government brought a False Claims Act case against Dr. Mahmood. The court issued its final judgment in that case Oct. 28. The judge ordered Dr. Mahmood to pay $1.2 million to the federal government, which includes $288,414.50 in damages and an additional $935,000 in civil penalties arising from the submission of 85 false claims, according to the DOJ.
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