NEWARK, N.J.
A doctor and two companies will pay $5.2 million for allegedly submitting bogus claims to Medicaid and Medicare for tests that were never provided along with other claims, according to officials.
Dr. Labib E. Riachi, 47, of Westfield, New Jersey, who owns and operates, Riachi, Inc. and Center for Advanced Pelvic Surgery, LLC, both based in Westfield, agreed to pay $5.25 million to resolve allegations that they falsely billed the health care programs,
The settlement resolves allegations that the defendants routinely billed Medicare and Medicaid for anorectal manometry, an invasive diagnostic test, and electromyography, another diagnostic test, even though most of the tests were never performed.
In addition, officials said the settlement resolves claims that the defendants submitted claims to Medicare for physical therapy services that should not have been paid because they were not performed by a qualified therapist.
The allegations resolved by today’s settlement were raised in a civil lawsuit that the government filed on Feb. 10, 2016, in Newark federal court charging the defendants with violating the False Claims Act, among other illegal conduct.
The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.