Three Charged with Making False Statements to Medicaid
| U.S. Attorney’s Office April 25, 2012 |
BOSTON—Three Boston individuals were charged today in federal court with making false statements to Medicaid, a federal agency, in order to obtain benefits to which they were not entitled.
Mohamed H. Hussain, 55; Abdulkadir H. Mohamed, 53; and Safiya Mohamed, 30, all of Roxbury, were charged in an indictment with three counts each of making a false statement to a federal agency and aiding and abetting, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 and 2.
The indictment alleges that in 2009, 2010, and 2011, the defendants each submitted multiple applications to Medicaid, also known as MassHealth, a health benefits program administered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, claiming that their incomes met eligibility requirements for the program when, in fact, they had actual incomes significantly in excess of the MassHealth guidelines. These applications contained false and fraudulent statements regarding the defendants’ incomes, and, specifically, that each defendant did not reveal that they were receiving thousands of dollars from Roxsom Home Care LLC, a home health services provider located in Roxbury. The indictment further alleges that had MassHealth been advised of the defendants’ true incomes, the applications would not have been approved, and MassHealth would not have provided benefits to the defendants or their families.
If convicted, each defendant faces up to five years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Susan J. Waddell, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Boston Regional Office of Investigations; and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shelbey D. Wright and Michelle L. Dineen Jerrett of Ortiz’s Health Care Fraud Unit.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.