CHARLOTTE CARDIOLOGIST TO PAY $2.6 MILLION TO SETTLE GOVERNMENT FRAUD ALLEGATIONS

Whistleblower's Allegations Lead to Federal Investigation

CHARLOTTE, NC - Amir Hussein Farahany, M.D. has entered into a settlement agreement under which he will pay $2.6 million to the government in order to resolve a federal lawsuit in which the government alleged that he defrauded the Medicare program. The announcement was made by Gretchen C.F. Shappert, United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. The settlement was reached following a multi-year investigation by the Federal Government into the Charlotte cardiologist =s billing practices.

The government =s investigation arose out of a whistleblower =s allegations against the physician. The whistleblower, a Mecklenburg County resident, alleged that she had become aware of extensive and longstanding billing fraud by Dr. Farahany. She then sued Dr. Farahany for knowingly and willfully billing the Medicare Program for more extensive services than he actually provided, a practice known as Aupcoding @. By upcoding, Dr. Farahany was reimbursed for significantly more than he would otherwise have received for his work. Government investigators found that Farahany also regularly billed Medicare for unnecessary services and sometimes billed twice for the same services.

The government joined in the suit after its investigators uncovered evidence that Dr. Farahany committed fraud despite repeated warnings to him that his billing practices were illegal. The fraud occurred over a six year period from 1997-2003.

As a condition of the settlement, Dr. Farahany was required to reimburse the government for the amount he defrauded from the Medicare Program and also pay substantial penalties to the Program. He was additionally required to enter into an integrity agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Under this agreement, Dr. Farahany must hire at his own expense a government approved auditor who will monitor his billing practices for a five year period to ensure that he does not commit fraud against government health programs in the future. The whistleblower will receive a substantial portion of the $2.6 million recovered by the government. The majority of the funds, however, will be returned to the Medicare Trust Fund to pay for health care services for persons over 65 and for disabled individuals.

The healthcare fraud investigation was conducted jointly by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Government contends that Dr. Farahany =s behavior violated the False Claims Act. Under the False Claims Act, physicians and other health care providers who submit false claims for reimbursement to the government are liable for up to three times the damages caused and up to $11,000 per violation.

Dr. Farahany has practiced at the Heart Care Center of Charlotte since 2001 and has served as Medical Director of Carrington Place Nursing Home in Matthews, NC.

Assistant United States Attorney Donald H. Caldwell, Jr. handled the case for the Office of the United States Attorney.

# # #