Gynecologist sentenced to prison in $5.4M Medicare fraud scam

A gynecologist from Sterling Heights is going to prison for five years for his role in a $ 5.4-million Medicare fraud scheme that relied on recruiting patients with prescription bills, cash and fast food, and billing the government for neurological tests that were medically unnecessary.

In some cases, the tests involved sending electrical currents through the arms and legs of the recruited patients, who had no legitimate purpose for getting the tests, prosecutors said.

The physician, Jonathan Agbebiyi, 63, who worked at three Livonia clinics, also was ordered to pay nearly $ 3 million in restitution by U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow at his sentencing Tuesday. Following a lengthy FBI investigation, a federal jury convicted Agbebiyi in May of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, between 2007 and 2010, Agbebiyi was a staff physician at three Livonia clinics: Blessed Medical Clinic, Alpha and Omega Medical Clinic and Manuel Medical Clinic.

According to evidence presented at trial, Agbebiyi billed Medicare for medically
unnecessary diagnostic tests that were administered by unqualified and untrained clinic employees. The patients never received follow up treatment by neurologists, prosecutors said.

Evidence at trial also showed that the patients were not referred to the clinics by their primary care physicians – or for any other legitimate purpose – but rather were recruited with prescriptions for controlled substances, cash payments and fast food. The three clinics then billed the Medicare program for various diagnostic tests.

"This doctor exposed patients to electrical currents for neurological testing solely to generate money for himself at the expense of the Medicare program," U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said. "We hope that cases like this one will deter other doctors from using patients as commodities for personal gain."

Agbebiyi's case was part of the federal government's Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations, which have charged more than 1,330 defendants nationwide since 2007 with falsely billing Medicare for more than $ 4 billion.

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