Criminal Investigative Updates

Progressive Oncology & Hematology, LLC (Progressive), an oncology practice offering chemotherapy services in Frederick, Maryland, and its owner, Mouhamad Bazzi, MD, agreed to pay the United States $1.45 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act. Progressive and Bazzi knowingly submitted claims to VA, Medicare, and Medicaid for reimbursement for drugs that the defendants did not pay for. Specifically, the government alleges Progressive and Bazzi submitted claims for reimbursement for drugs that came from charitable organizations or through grant programs at no expense to the defendants. The government further alleges Progressive and Bazzi directed that wastage from single-use vials of drugs intended for one patient be split across two or more patients. This case was investigated by the VA OIG and Health and Human Services OIG.

Heriberto L. Rivera, CEO of Family Integrative Medicine of Orlando, LLC (FIMO) in Lake County, Florida, was charged with conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks. He paid a VA employee about $175,000 to direct VA patients to FIMO, resulting in roughly $14 million in claims submitted to the VA, with nearly $12 million paid. The VA OIG and FBI investigated the case.

West Virginia Sleep Centers, LLC, a West Virginia sleep laboratory located in Beckley, West Virginia, reached a civil settlement to pay $120,000 to resolve allegations that the company submitted claims for payment to the Veterans Administration Community Health program and Medicaid for sleep studies and polysomnogram reports that were prepared and signed by unqualified, non-physician staff during the period from 2016 to 2020. This case was investigated by the VA OIG and the West Virginia Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit as part of the National Health Care Fraud Takedown.

Mehrdad Gerami, of Coos Bay, Oregon, was charged with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in connection with medical sleep study testing resulting in a loss of more than $2 million. Allegedly, Gerami owned and operated Coastal Diagnostic Testing Group and Coastal Diagnostic.  Both companies engaged in submitting fraudulent claims to the Veterans Health Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and private insurance companies for sleep tests allegedly conducted in the office when, in fact, they were conducted either at home or not at all. The VA OIG and the Health and Human Services OIG investigated this case as part of the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.

Kevin Darnell Curry of Frisco, Texas, was indicted for healthcare fraud, illegal kickbacks, and money laundering, all connected to a scheme involving fraudulent claims for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treatments submitted to government insurance programs. Curry, owner of Acuity TMS, allegedly submitted about $26.9 million in false claims, with roughly $17.1 million paid out. The case was investigated by the VA OIG, the Department of War’s Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI Dallas Field Office, and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit as part of the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.