Syed Rizwan Mohiuddin, former president of United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $11 million in restitution of conspiracy to defraud the federal government, the Houston Chronicle reported Jan. 18.
The charges against Mr. Mohiuddin, who pleaded guilty last September, came after he and an unnamed co-defendant received an $8 million loan with fraudulent records in 2010.
The co-defendant created a bank account for the fund, then transferred $6.9 million into an account for Imagine Hospitality, a business created and owned by Mr. Mohiuddin, the indictment said, according to the publication.
Fidelity National Financial, a title insurance company that went after Mr. Mohiuddin for payments, supported information for the case. The company has 10 to 15 additional outstanding lawsuits over Mr. Mohiuddin's actions, Rodolfo Rivera, the company's chief international counsel, said during the hearing, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Mr. Mohiuddin pleaded not guilty to a five-charge indictment related to conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud and monetary transactions in criminally derived property in 2018, but four of the charges were dropped as part of the plea deal in September.
Mr. Mohiuddin, who will also serve three years of supervised release following his prison term, paid $6.1 million in 2022 to close a bankruptcy case after Fidelity National Financial forced him into bankruptcy proceedings and sued over his reported scheme.
Fidelity National and additional insurance companies still claim Mr. Mohiuddin owes over $30 million, according to court records.
In a separate instance, United Memorial Medical Center was ordered to pay over $2 million to settle allegations that Mr. Mohiuddin profited from a billing scheme. The hospital reportedly overcharged the government for patient care and double billed the government for COVID-19 tests, a March 2022 whistleblower complaint revealed, according to the publication.
Becker's has reached out to Mr. Mohiuddin's attorney Nathan Mays for comment regarding the charges.