Maryland physician Dr. Zahid Aslam and Fast Care Medical Aid Unit has pleaded guilty in Delaware to Making a False Statement to a Financial Institution and Health Care Fraud and agreed to pay $3 million in a civil settlement.
The plea agreements are part of a settlement with the government to resolve his civil liability resulting from the operation of two of his medical practices, Fast Care and Alpha Medical Center. Alpha is housed in a converted Walmart store in Elkton, MD. The settlement was reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Delaware.
The government alleged that Aslam recruited another borrower to sign a loan application to WSFS Bank because Aslam knew that he would not qualify for a loan given his credit score. The loan was noted in WSFS financial reports, due to its size and loss potential.
The government further charged that the loan application falsely stated that the nominee borrower was the owner of Tri-State MRI & Imaging, LLC, which was in fact controlled by Aslam, and also stated that the nominee had funded construction costs for the business.
Aslam is scheduled to be sentenced in May 2019. Cecil Daily in Elkton reported that Aslam could be subject to deportation since he is a legal resident but not a U.S. citizen.
Click here for previous Delaware Business Now stories on Aslam
Fast Care, another medical business controlled by Aslam, pleaded guilty to one count of Health Care Fraud.
Fast Care owns and operates multiple walk-in medical centers in Delaware and Maryland doing business as “Got-A-Doc Walk-In Medical Centers.” The government alleged that Fast Care submitted claims to Medicare for services that falsely stated the services were rendered by a physician when in many cases the services were performed by a physician assistant, which is reimbursed by Medicare at a lower rate. The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware imposed a fine of $100,000.
As part of the global resolution with the government, Dr. Aslam also entered into a civil settlement agreement under which he agreed to pay $3.07 million to the federal government, the State of Delaware, and the State of Maryland to resolve claims that he caused Fast Care and Alpha to submit false claims to government health care programs.
The civil settlement resolved allegations that Fast Care and Amna Medical Center submitted claims for services to government health care programs for laboratory services that were not medically necessary, did not qualify for payment, and/or were not provided; medical and/or counseling services that listed the wrong rendering provider and/or did not qualify for payment because they were not rendered by an eligible provider; and medical services that listed the wrong service performed and/or lacked documentation to support the claimed service.
The federal share of the civil settlement is $1.72 million, and the state Medicaid share of the civil settlement is $1.37 million.
Additionally, Aslam has agreed to be excluded from Medicare, Medicaid, and all other Federal health care programs. He has also agreed to surrender his medical licenses.
“My office is committed to combatting financial fraud, whether it affects our nation’s financial institutions or our government healthcare programs,” said United States Attorney for Delaware David Weiss. “We will continue to hold both companies and individuals accountable, using all of the criminal and civil remedies available to us.”
Except for the conduct admitted in connection with the criminal pleas, the claims resolved by the civil agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of civil liability.
The global resolution was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware, the State of Delaware Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the State of Maryland Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the HHS Office of the Inspector General. This matter was investigated by the FBI, the IRS – Criminal Investigation Division, the HHS Office of the Inspector General, and the Delaware Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
