Health care provider pleads guilty in $13.8M scam

DETROIT (AP) -- The U.S. Justice Department says a Detroit-area man has pleaded guilty for his role in a $13.8 million psychotherapy fraud scheme. The government says 42-year-old Jawad Ahmad pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Detroit U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen is scheduled to sentence Ahmad on Nov. 28. The department says co-conspirators Tausif Rahman and Muhammad Ahmad acquired control over a home health care company known as Physicians Choice Home Health Care LLC in 2008. It says Jawad Ahmad managed the operations of Physicians Choice. The government says Ahmad made kickbacks to recruiters who obtained beneficiaries' information for billing Medicare for home health services. It says beneficiaries pre-signed forms used to show they received fictitious health services. Rahman and Muhammad Ahmad pleaded guilty earlier. Published: Thu, Aug 30, 2012