The owner and manager of three Miami-area home health agencies was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud and one charge of conspiracy to defraud the federal government and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in a $57 million Medicare fraud scheme, according to the Department of Justice.
Khaled Elbeblawy, who managed Willsand Home Health Agency and owned JEM Home Health Care and Health Choice Home Services, all in Miami, was ordered to pay $36,400,957 in restitution and to forfeit the same amount, according to the article.
Mr. Elbeblawy and his co-conspirators were found to have provided home health services to Medicare beneficiaries that were not medically necessary and billed Medicare for services they didn't perform from 2006 to 2013.
Mr. Elbeblawy and his accomplices also paid kickbacks to physicians, patient recruiters and staffing groups that referred beneficiaries to the three aforementioned institutions. From 2006 to 2013, the three agencies owned and operated by the defendant submitted a total of roughly $57 million to Medicare in false and fraudulent claims and received payments equaling approximately $40 million on those claims, according to the article.