A New Jersey man who state investigators said was the "ringleader" of a fraud operation involving payments for scan referrals has pleaded guilty and received a 10-year prison sentence.
State investigators had charged Rehan Zuberi of running an elaborate scheme in which he paid physicians for referring patients to his network of imaging facilities, Diagnostic Imaging Affiliates (DIA) of Hackensack, NJ. In an investigation dubbed Operation RayScam, law enforcement officials in June 2014 raided over a dozen DIA locations and arrested Zuberi and a number of associates.
Investigators charged Zuberi with paying more than $300,000 in illegal kickbacks to referring physicians and disguising the payments by providing doctors with services such as patient transportation. Officials claimed that DIA submitted more than 30,000 claims involving $8 million in Medicaid payments from 2008 to 2013.
In a May 11 hearing, Zuberi pleaded guilty to several charges in the case as part of a plea agreement that called for him to receive a 10-year prison sentence with a four-year nonparole eligibility period. His wife, Humara Paracha, also pleaded guilty to a related charge and will receive three years of probation. Both must pay $1 million in restitution.
Investigators say three other individuals have pleaded guilty in connection with the case: two individuals who helped Zuberi make payments to physicians, and one doctor who accepted $30,000 in payments from Zuberi for patient referrals.
