Nine pharmacists were charged in three separate indictments for their alleged participation in a $12.1 million healthcare fraud scheme executed in Detroit and southern Ohio. Auday Maki, 66, of Northville, Michigan, was charged with three counts of healthcare fraud. Hassan Abdallah, 49, of Sterling Heights, Michigan; Raef Hamaed, 50, of Scottsdale, Arizona; Tarek Fakhuri, 47, of Windsor, Canada; Kindy Ghussin, 45, of Greene County, Ohio; Balhar Singh, 57, of Butler County, Ohio; and Ali Abdelrazzaq, 44, of Sterling Heights, Michigan were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud. In addition, Abdallah and Abdelrazzaq were each charged with three counts of healthcare fraud and Fakhuri with two counts of healthcare fraud. Finally, Hassan Khreizat, 40, of Dearborn Heights, Michigan; and Nofal Cholag, 41, of Macomb, Michigan were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud and four counts of healthcare fraud. The nine defendants are licensed pharmacists and/or owners of pharmacies in Michigan and Ohio. The indictments allege that, using the pharmacies, the defendants billed Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) for prescription medications that were neither purchased nor dispensed. The indictments further allege that the defendants billed Medicare and Medicaid for medications that were often medically unnecessary and for some medications that were purportedly dispensed to deceased beneficiaries after their dates of death. The indictments allege that the defendants received over $12.1 million due to fraudulent claims they submitted to Medicare, Medicaid, and BCBS.
