Attorney General Josh Stein announced that Aljihad Shabazz of Kernersville pleaded guilty for his role in a healthcare fraud scheme that defrauded the North Carolina Medicaid program of more than $4.7 million. Shabazz owned and operated Reign & Inspirations, LLC, (R&I), a clinic that provided outpatient behavioral services in the Greensboro area. Between 2017 and 2020, Shabazz conspired with others to submit fake reimbursement claims to Medicaid for services that were never provided to Medicaid beneficiaries. As Shabazz admitted in court, he obtained the personal identifying information (PII) of Medicaid beneficiaries through community outreach programs, including football and mentoring programs. He then misused the beneficiaries’ PII to create and submit more than 1,500 fraudulent reimbursement claims to Medicaid to receive payment for services that were never in fact provided by R&I. Some of the claims stated that R&I provided services that exceeded 24 hours in a single day. Court records show that the reimbursement payments made by Medicaid were deposited in bank accounts under Shabazz’s control. Shabazz used a portion of the fraudulent proceeds to pay his co-conspirators, cover personal expenses, including personal travel, luxury items, and timeshares, and make cash withdrawals.
