A San Fernando Valley doctor, Pezhman Ebrahimzadeh, who is the owner of a cosmetic medicine clinic in the Winnetka district was sentenced to over three years in federal prison for receiving more than $3 million from Medicare by submitting fraudulent bills for medical procedures he never performed.
He was sentenced in the United States Federal District Court in Los Angeles. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the Medicare program of over $3.1 million.
He owns the Winnetka Medical Group, which is a cosmetic health care clinic that functions under the business name of Health & Beauty Clinic. The medical doctor provides cosmetic treatments that utilizes radiofrequency lasers and liposuction. Some of his patients Medicare beneficiaries. He would use their beneficiary information to submit invoices to the Medicare program for medical procedures he never performed.
He was also able to patient beneficiary information he never met or treated, and used their information to submit additional fraudulent invoices to Medicare.
His usual fraudulent claims were related to to his claims he performed three expensive procedures, revascularization, ablation of a bone tumor, or the placement of a radiotherapy catheter in a breast. His office did not even have the equipment needed to perform these types of procedures.
Federal prosecutors said he even billed Medicare for performing medical procedures on patients who were dead. In one case, he billed Medicare for seven separate expensive medical procedures. He would also alter medical records to conceal his fraudulent conduct. In some cases, in addition to defrauding Medicare, he would send bills to private insurance companies for similar procedures. In some of those cases, he would claim the procedure was on himself.
In total, he submitted over $7 million in fraudulent claims and was paid over $3 million by Medicare. He pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud.
During the sentencing phase, prosecutors informed the court he was recently arrested for sexually assaulting a patient during a physical examination.
If you are facing federal criminal charges, a defense attorney who is experienced in handling past health care fraud cases is critical in handling your case. There are many legal defenses, but only a law firm familiar with federal laws can effectively prepare a strong defense.
At Goldstein Law Offices, our lawyers are skilled in defending these cases and are available around the clock to discuss your case and explain how we can help you.