Oakland Co. Clinic Owner Gets Prison Time For Fraud, Money Laundering

FARMINGTON HILLS, MI — A Farmington Hills clinic owner was sentenced to prison Thursday for health care fraud and money laundering, announced United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

Mohamed Kazkaz, 54, was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in federal prison. He was also ordered to forfeit roughly $5.3 million as the gross proceeds of his unlawful conduct, officials said.

As owner and decision maker of Centre HRW, a purported psychotherapy agency in Farmington Hills, Kazkaz admitted he submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, officials said.

The fake claims sought reimbursement for psychotherapy services that were never provided or were otherwise not eligible for reimbursement, officials said.

Kazkaz also submitted claims for individuals whose Medicare identification numbers were procured through kickbacks and bribes, officials said.

Kazkaz offered and provided kickbacks and bribes to Ziad Khalel, and others, as an inducement to refer Medicare beneficiaries to Centre for psychotherapy services, even though such services were medically unnecessary and were never rendered, officials said.

Khalel recruited Medicare beneficiaries to sign blank Centre sign-in sheets. Kazkaz and others, completed the sheets as if the patients had been provided psychotherapy services and relied upon them to support his fraudulent claims to Medicare, through Centre, for psychotherapy services that were never rendered, officials said.

Kazkaz also instructed employees to obtain information regarding the Medicare beneficiaries legitimate medical visits and or treatments to ensure Kazkaz did not submit a fraudulent claim for a psychotherapy appointment on the same date the beneficiary had a legitimate appointment with another medical provider, officials said.

Kazkaz told federal officials he submitted or caused the submission of roughly $11 million dollars in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicare that paid roughly $5.3 million dollars to Kazkaz.

In an effort to conceal the proceeds, Kazkaz transferred the money to various entities, officials said. Officials said he specifically transferred roughly $1.4 million to a "National Restaurant Chain #1" with a cashier’s check, officials said.

"The actions of this defendant undermine the trust we place in our health care providers," Ison said. "We hope this prosecution sends a message that we will aggressively seek to hold individuals accountable who steal from federally funded programs, such as Medicare, which are meant to help those in need."