Feds: Bloomfield Hills Doc Hid Money in Kids' Bank Accounts

A Bloomfield Hills surgeon accused of performing unnecessary spinal surgeries in a multi-million-dollar health-insurance scheme allegedly stashed more than half a million dollars in his young children’s bank accounts in an attempt to hide it from the government, according to federal court records.

In a search warrant affidavit unsealed this week in the government’s case against Dr. Aria Sabit, FBI Special Agent Peter Hayes asked for permission to seize as much as $600,000 from the accounts of Sabit’s 8- and 10-year-old children, The Detroit News reports.

In his search warrant application in U.S. District Court, Hayes hinted that Sabit, a native of Afghanistan who obtained U.S. citizenship last year, might be planning to flee the country to avoid prosecution on charges that he billed Medicaid, Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan $32.8 million for the unnecessary procedures.

Of the $1.8 million he collected, $1.2 million came from Medicare and Medicaid programs.

If convicted of the fraud and money laundering charges against him, the doctor could spend 10 or more years in prison.

Related:

• Bloomfield Hills Surgeon Accused in Multi-Million-Dollar Health-Care Fraud

Sabit surrendered his California medical license amid similar allegations of malpractice.

In Michigan, the government alleges Sabit intentionally misled four patients into thinking he fused their spinal vertebrae when he didn’t perform any surgery. He is accused of using several businesses and medical practices – including Southfield-based Michigan Brain & Spine Physicians Group – to commit the fraud.

He also had medical privileges at Detroit Medical Center, Doctor’s Hospital of Michigan in Pontiac and McLaren Lapeer Regional Medical Center.

Sabit has been in jail for about a month. U.S. District Judge Paul Borman has yet to rule on his request that he be released from custody on the condition that he post a bail package worth $2.5 million, surrender his and his family’s passports, and live under house arrest.

The government has labeled Sabit a flight risk. When he was questioned by authorities in Atlanta last August, he was about to board a flight for Dubai. He told customs officials that he owned a company that was doing some mining in Afghanistan, and he also had a 3.6-carat emerald and a ruby in his luggage.

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