Michigan brothers stole nearly $2 million in healthcare scam

A Michigan business owner was convicted of running a nearly $2 million healthcare billing scam Tuesday. Rabih Hamdan, 41, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Detroit to conspiring to commit healthcare fraud, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office in eastern Michigan. Located in Dearborn, Mich., Hamdan stole $1.9 million from Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Hamdan worked with his brother to operate a five-year scheme at several pharmacies they owned and operated together, according to a criminal affidavit. They submitted false and fraudulent claims for prescription drugs that were either medically unnecessary or not actually dispensed. The two brothers then used the money for the drugs for themselves. For instance, one victim told federal agents that she received a diabetes medication from one of their pharmacies as many as six times. However, the pharmacy submitted more than 52 claims for that prescription, which cost in total around $25,000.

Has Hamdan’s brother been convicted? Mohammad Hamdan, 44, pleaded guilty in the same court in February, the attorney’s office said. Both brothers will be sentenced at a later date and face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison each.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Black’s report on a judge’s order allowing two people who acquired U.S. citizenship fraudulently to be denaturalized.