Attorney General: Two Arrested for Almost $500,000 in Medicaid Fraud

A Miami couple was charged with defrauding Florida's Medicaid program of nearly $500,000, the state attorney general's office announced Friday.

Maratib Hashmi and Nasim Hashmi, both 61, of Miami, were arrested by the attorney generals Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Miami-Dade Police Department.

According to the attorney general's office, the Hashmis, owners of LImage Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Inc., in Miami-Dade County, fraudulently billed the Medicaid program for therapy provided by unlicensed therapists and overbilled for work provided by assistant therapists.

The defendants were paid more than $484,000 by the Agency for Health Care Administration for the claims, the state reported.

One penny of fraudulent billing that costs the state is unacceptable. I am pleased that we, along with the Miami-Dade Police Department, have arrested two individuals who cost the state nearly half a million dollars, Attorney General Pam Bondi stated in a release.

The Hashmis were both charged with Medicaid fraud, grand theft and organized scheme to defraud, all first-degree felonies. They are also charged with conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud, a second-degree felony. If convicted, they face up to 105 years in prison and over $2 million in fines.