Lexington Physician Sentenced for Healthcare Fraud Conspiracy

For Immediate Release

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Lexington physician, Dr. Amr Mohamed, 55, was sentenced on Tuesday, by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, to two years in prison, for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.

According to his guilty plea agreement, Mohamed was a licensed physician, with a specialty in nephrology, who practiced in Lexington.  In addition to his nephrology practice, he worked for various telemedicine companies that arranged for physicians to prescribe a variety of durable medical equipment, topical creams, and genetic testing for Medicare beneficiaries.  Between March 2018 and April 2019, Mohamed illegally entered into an agreement with RediDoc, LLC, to provide contracted telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries.  Pursuant to this agreement, Mohamed ordered medically unnecessary medical equipment, topical creams, and genetic testing, for which he received $20 (on average, per beneficiary), from RediDoc.  These orders were medically unnecessary because Mohamed did not have a genuine physician-patient relationship with the beneficiaries, did not use the results of the testing for their treatment, and because he was receiving a kickback for each beneficiary.

Between March 2018 and April 2019, Mohamed referred and ordered medically unnecessary care for more than 7,000 beneficiaries; and for each, he received a kickback in return for ordering the tests or services.  During the conspiracy, Mohamed received $261,054 in kickbacks from RediDoc, for ordering unnecessary medical equipment and services that ultimately caused Medicare to pay $14,150,764.60 for the medically unnecessary items.

Under federal law, Mohamed must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.  Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years. Mohamed was also ordered to pay $14,150,764.60 in restitution.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Michael E. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office, jointly announced the sentencing.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Smith is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

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Top photo credit: Adobe Stock

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edky/pr/lexington-physician-sentenced-healthcare-fraud-conspiracy