Ohio Doctor and His Wife Sentenced for Health Care Fraud and Obstruction of Justice

Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced today that on Thursday, February 4, 2010, United States District Judge Solomon Oliver, Jr. sentenced Dr. Hany M. Iskander, age 48, and his wife, Evat Hanna, age 43, both of Powell, Ohio, in relation to a health care fraud scheme perpetrated by Iskander and related obstructive conduct committed by Iskander and Hanna when they learned that Iskander was being investigated.

Iskander was sentenced to 42 months' imprisonment with three years of supervised release, and ordered to forfeit and pay $6,962,025.00, in restitution to his victims, which is to be distributed as follows:

1. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield: $909,079.21
2. Aultcare: $117,384.81
3. Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation: $69,758.50
4. Medicare: $2,374,819.00
5. Medicaid: $2,873,056.92
6. Medical Mutual of Ohio: $324,936.75
7. United Healthcare: $292,989.81

As part of his plea agreement, Iskander further agreed to surrender his license to practice medicine in the State of Ohio and to pay $37,975.00 toward the actual costs incurred in investigating and prosecuting the health care fraud case. A $600.00 special assessment was also imposed.

Upon recommendation of both the United States and the defense, Hanna was sentenced to 24 months of probation, which includes 12 months of home detention with electronic monitoring. A $500.00 special assessment was also imposed.

Both Iskander and Hanna will be deported to Egypt after completion of their respective sentences.

Iskander pled guilty on December 23, 2009 to health care fraud in a one-count information. Iskander’s plea followed a two-week jury trial before Judge Oliver in Cleveland, Ohio, at the conclusion of which Iskander and Hanna were each found guilty on five out of six counts of Obstruction of Justice.

Dr. Iskander, a medical doctor who is an Egyptian national here on a work visa, executed a scheme to defraud Medicare, Medicaid, and other health care benefit programs through his pain management business located in Bucyrus, Ohio and Lewis Center, Ohio. The scheme involved millions of dollars of fraudulent claims for payment for medical services that were either not performed or that had no medical necessity to be performed.

After learning of the investigation into the Health Care Fraud scheme being perpetrated by Iskander, Iskander and his wife Hanna, also an Egyptian national, obstructed the investigation and attempted to flee the country. The defendants were charged with shredding and mutilating medical records to impede the federal investigation. The defendants also removed all of the patient medical files from the Bucyrus office (approximately 1500 patient files) and secreted the records in garbage bags in their Powell, Ohio, residence on January 8, 2008. Iskander was arrested on a complaint filed on January 9, 2008, and Hanna was arrested on a complaint filed on January 14, 2008, after it was discovered that they had destroyed medical records, had concealed patient medical files from investigators, and were packing nearly all of their belongings in their house in Powell for overseas shipment with the intent to flee to Egypt on January 14, 2008.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rebecca Lutzko, James C. Lynch, and James L. Morford, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Cleveland, Ohio; the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Cleveland, Ohio and Mansfield, Ohio; and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Office of the Attorney General, State of Ohio.