Lady Justice
Greenfield resident Mohammed Kazim Ali has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for paying healthcare kickbacks in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. Ali, who co-owned a Milwaukee-area clinical laboratory called Noah Associates, was also ordered to pay over $2.2 million in restitution to Medicaid and Medicare, along with a $75,000 fine.
Ali and his co-defendant, Justin Hanson, engaged in a three-year scheme starting in 2017, paying over $400,000 in kickbacks to the owner of a Milwaukee substance use treatment clinic. In return, they received referrals for unnecessary urine drug tests from Medicaid and Medicare patients, for which Noah Associates falsely billed the government. Despite a physician’s warning to cease using his credentials for these tests, Ali continued the fraudulent practice, leading to over $2.2 million in improper payments.
United States District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller criticized Ali for his breach of trust and called the scheme a “long-running, creative fraud” that was “beyond belief.” In addition to his prison sentence, Ali has been excluded from participating in Medicaid and Medicare and has shut down Noah Associates. His co-defendant, Hanson, is set to be sentenced on March 21, 2025.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad emphasized the importance of preventing fraud in healthcare programs and protecting taxpayer funds. “Kickbacks result in unnecessary services, defrauding both the government and patients,” he stated.
“Individuals and medical providers who accept kickbacks in exchange for the referral of patients covered under a Federal health care program place personal profit ahead of patient care, which can ultimately lead to the delivery of costly, medically unnecessary services,” said Mario M. Pinto, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Chicago Region. “Our agency is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to bring those who violate laws intended to protect patients, and our Federal health care programs, to justice.”
