Louisiana Psychiatrist Sentenced to Serve More Than Seven Years in Prison for His Role in $258 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

A Louisiana psychiatrist was sentenced in federal court in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, today to serve 86 months in prison for his role in a $258.5 million Medicare fraud scheme involving partial hospitalization psychiatric services. He was further ordered to pay $43.5 million in restitution and to forfeit all proceeds from the fraudulent scheme. According to documents filed in the case, Zahid Imran, M.D., 56, of Baton Rouge, served as the medical director of Shifa Community Mental Health Center of Baton Rouge, and co-owned Serenity Center of Baton Rouge and Shifa Community Mental Health Center of Texas. As part of the scheme, Imran admitted mentally ill patients to the facilities, some of whom were inappropriate for partial hospitalization, and then re-certified the patients' appropriateness for the program in an effort to continue to bill Medicare for services. To support the fraudulent Medicare billing, Imran and others falsified patient treatment records to reflect services on dates when no such services were provided. Imran pleaded guilty on May 13, 2014, to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Read more on www.justice.gov

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