The owner of a Michigan home health agency is expected to serve prison time for the role he played in a scheme that defrauded Medicare of about $8.3 million.
 
Zahir Shah, 49, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, was sentenced April 22 and ordered to pay full restitution — $8,229,790.28 — for the amount his home health agencies received from Medicare between 2007 and 2017, according to a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) release.
 
He pleaded guilty in May 2018 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks. (See related article.)
 
Shah admitted to submitting false certifications to enroll as a Medicare provider, the release states.
 
He also paid illegal kickbacks to recruiters in exchange for referrals and “conspired with others to submit claims to Medicare for home health services that were medically unnecessary and not eligible for Medicare reimbursement,” according to the DOJ.
 
The case was part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force.
 
Related links: View the full release at https://bit.ly/2Pr5R0y.