Metro Detroit Surgeon Was Sentenced to a Year in Prison in $7 Million Dollar Medicare Fraud Scheme

DETROIT –– A surgeon from Metro Detroit was sentenced yesterday for his involvement in a scheme to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare for psychotherapy services, announced United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan of the FBI Detroit Field Division, and Mario Pinto Mario M. Pinto, Special Agent in Charge at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). Mustafa Hares, 79, of West Bloomfield was sentenced by U.S. District Court Gershwin A. Drain to 12 months in federal prison. Hares was also ordered to pay $4.8 million in restitution and to serve a three-year term of supervised release following his incarceration. According to court records, between 2019 and 2023, Hares and others joined in a scheme to submit more than $7 million in fraudulent claims for psychotherapy services which were never rendered. Hares joined with Mohammed Kazkaz in signing purported patient progress notes, which were actually written by employees in Mexico rather than by actual medical providers. Kazkaz was previously sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison for his role in this fraud scheme.

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