UPDATED: Federal Fraud Charges Filed Against Palos Hills Podiatrist and Associates

Three men who operated a Palos Hills-based home health care business were charged in federal court Tuesday in connection with Medicare and visa fraud in excess of $1.5 million.

Two of the men own House Call Physicians, 10661 S. Roberts Rd., Palos Hills, and the third is an unlicensed podiatrist who was employed by the company. The complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office was unsealed Wednesday and charges that House Call fraudulently collected Medicare claims after billing for work completed by unlicensed physicians, falsely certified that patients were eligible for home care and billed unnecessary medical services.

• Bahir Haj Khalil, 33, the manager and co-owner of House Call, was charged with one count of health care fraud and one count of visa fraud. Khalil, who lives in Palos Hills, is a native of Syria and a Canadian citizen. He is not authorized to work in the United States, the complaint says.
• Mohammed Khamis Rashed, 45, of Chicago, is the co-owner of House Call and was charged with one count of visa fraud.
• Paschal U. Oparah, 46, of South Holland, is an unlicensed podiatrist and was charged with one count of health care fraud.

The visa fraud charges stem from the efforts of Khalil and Rashed to obtain a visa for Khalil by claiming he was not already employed by, and does not own, House Call, and that the business would hire him as a home health aide for $8.50 an hour, according to the complaint.

House Call was founded in 2006 by Khalil who, according to the complaint, is not a licensed medical professional in any capacity.

House Call received Medicare reimbursements totaling more than $3.3 million based on 36,864 claims for 2,348 separate beneficiaries between 2008 and the end of May 2011, according to the complaint.

A former House Call physician recorded conversations with Khalil and a physician assistant in cooperation with the investigation. Information from the former physician demonstrates that patients were falsely certified as being eligible for home care services in exchange for patient referrals from home care providers, according to the complaint. 

The complaint also alleges that House Call ordered unnecessary tests, used unqualified staff, ordered unnecessary equipment and billed services provided by physician assistants as if they were performed by doctors.

Between April 2008 and March 2011, House Call fraudulently obtained more than $1,150,000 in Medicare reimbursement for services billed under two physicians’ provider numbers, according to prosecutors. One of those physicians told agents that he/she was hired by Khalil and paid $2,000 a month to review and sign medical records prepared by physician assistants but was never required to see patients, according to the federal affidavit.

Medicare paid House Call $463,000 for services provided by Oparah between 2008 and 2011, according to the complaint. Oparah's license was suspended in 2008, but the company billed the services as if they were performed by a different podiatrist, the complaint alleges.

The complaint charges that Khalil, Rashed and Oparah all received hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from House Call since it was established.

According to the U.S Attorney's Office, health care and visa fraud each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or an alternate fine totaling twice the loss or twice the gain, whichever is greater. 

UPDATED, 3:45 p.m.: According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Rashed is a coordinating engineer for the City of Chicago's Department of Transportation and is described as a "high-level official."

Chicago Sun-Times: City official arrested and charged with Medicare fraud scheme