The founder of a string of Los Angeles-area medical clinics has agreed to pay $10 million to settle state Department of Justice allegations of submitting false claims to the Medicare and Medi-Cal programs, it was announced Thursday.
As part of the settlement with the owners of R&B Medical Group, Universal Diagnostic Laboratories, and Southern California Medical Center, Mohammad Rasekhi and his wife, Sheila Busheri, will pay a total of $10 million, with the state of California receiving $4 million and the federal government receiving $6 million, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The agreement resolves allegations that Rasekhi and Busheri engaged in a kickback scheme and made self-referrals between 2014 and 2021.
Rasekhi was the founder and former chief medical officer of SCMC, a group of general practice clinics with locations in El Monte, Van Nuys, Pico Rivera, Woodland Hills, Pomona and Long Beach.
“When health care professionals exploit the Medi-Cal program, which is intended to help the state’s most vulnerable populations, they betray the very principles of the Hippocratic Oath and undermine a program designed to support the elderly, the ill, and those in need,” Bonta said in a statement.
“The alleged actions of Dr. Rasekhi not only broke the trust of his patients but also diverted essential resources away from vital health care services that benefit the community.”
Rasekhi and his wife are alleged to have falsely and knowingly billed government health care programs by paying third-party marketers to induce patient referrals. The couple also allegedly billed government health care programs through self-referring patients to their own laboratories in violation of the Stark Law, Bonta said.
In addition, the couple allegedly falsely and knowingly billed government health care programs as a result of paying kickbacks for referrals in violation of anti-kickback laws. By engaging in a kickback scheme for referrals, paying third-party marketers, and engaging in self-referral to their own labs, they are alleged to have received excess reimbursement from Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, according to the AG.
Rasekhi surrendered his medical license last month after an accusation from the state medical board that he sexually assaulted three patients, according to documents filed by the California medical board.