Phony Chiropractor Sentenced for Health Care Fraud

PHILADELPHIA—Tahib Smith Ali, 35, of Philadelphia, was sentenced yesterday to 72 months in prison for posing as a chiropractor between January 2009 and December 2009 and for fraudulently billing Independence Blue Cross under the name of and medical provider number of a licensed chiropractor. Ali pleaded guilty in June to 50 counts of health care fraud, 50 counts of false statements in health care matters, and one count of aggravated identity theft. Ali was operating a Philadelphia clinic known as “Oasis Holistic Healing Village” on S. 17th Street in Philadelphia when he perpetrated his fraud scheme. He saw patients and represented to them that he was a chiropractor. Ali holds no medical licenses. He submitted approximately $1.5 million in fraudulent claims for chiropractic services to Independence Blue Cross (IBC) under the name and medical provider number of a licensed chiropractor who no longer worked at the clinic. Ali also billed IBC for chiropractic services that were never actually provided and for patient visits that never occurred.

In addition to the prison term, two years of which is a mandatory term for the aggravated identity theft, U.S. District Court Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg ordered Ali to pay restitution in the amount of $287,972.13, a special assessment of $10,100 and three years of supervised release.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney M. Beth Leahy.