Dallas slumlord hospital chain owner gets 11 years for health-care fraud
A federal judge has sentenced a Dallas businessman to 11 years in prison for bilking government health-insurance programs through his troubled Texas hospital chain.
Dr. Tariq Mahmood, 63, also will pay $600,000 in restitution to Medicare, Medicaid and a private insurance provider, U.S. prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The sentence comes nearly 10 months after a jury found Mahmood guilty on 15 fraud counts. He ordered employees to illegally alter diagnoses underlying more than $1.1 million in bogus billings from three of his rural hospitals.
“What we do not need is providers like Tariq Mahmood who masquerade as physicians {and} pretend to care about American health care but actually are determined to loot the Medicare Trust Fund,” said John Bales, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, in a statement praising prosecutors for holding Mahmood accountable.
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Mahmood is to begin serving his 135-month sentence on June 15. He also is required to undergo mental health treatment.
Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/headlines/20150414-dallas-hospital-chain-owner-gets-11-years-for-health-care-fraud.ece
[font color=green]My apologies, but I did not see this article when it was published in April.[/font]
Related threads (in reverse chronological order)
Associate of Dallas-area hospital slumlord owner Tariq Mahmood pleads guilty to lying
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107822026
Hospital Slumlord Update: Jurors find Texas hospital chain owner guilty on all 15 counts
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107819747
Hospital Slumlord Update: Workers testify that hospitals’ owner interfered in billing
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107819685
Hospital slumlord: Owner of failed Texas hospital chain rescinds deal
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107818030
Indicted owner of Texas hospital chain to plead guilty to fraud conspiracy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107817949
Loss of East Texas town’s hospital (due to Medicare billing fraud) hits home after toddler chokes
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107812403
FBI investigating recent document destruction at Cameron hospital
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107810860
In rare move, sheriff takes control of Central Texas Hospital; effort aimed at protecting community
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107810599
Other links are available at this newspaper article:
http://watchdogblog.dallasnews.com/2013/08/18-million-to-reward-unsafe-hospitals-alarm-in-congress.html/
The most critical article is this:
http://www.dallasnews.com/investigations/headlines/20130713-patients-died-amid-federal-state-regulatory-inaction.ec