Dr. Bassel Altantawi, a 45-year-old doctor from Farmington Hills, Michigan is facing charges for allegations of medicare fraud. The case was announced recently by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who says that Altantawi is accused of 22 counts of fraud for allegedly billing for services he did not provide. The doctor, who practices medicine out of Canton Urgent Care in Wayne County, was arraigned by East Lansing District Judge Richard Ball. According to court records, the charges are the result of an investigation led by the Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Division, who looked into the allegations after the Canton Police reported a complaint.
Anonymous Tip Leads To Investigation of Doctor
Although it is not known who made the initial complaint to the Canton Police, someone claimed that the doctor had billed for a service that he didn’t perform and therefore an investigation was started. During the course of the investigation, authorities say they have uncovered evidence that Altantawi repeatedly billed Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for services that he never provided.
In a statement released to the media, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette addressed the charges against Altantawi. He stated that the A.G.’s office intends to “continue to identify and prosecute unscrupulous health care providers who waste limited healthcare dollars by fraudulently seeking payment for services they never provided. Michigan residents should feel confident that when they see a physician, they receive honest, quality care and accurate billing based on the services provided to them by a physician.”
Currently Altantawi is facing a total of nine counts of Medicare fraud, 12 counts of health care fraud, and one count of racketeering. The specific felony charges are: One count of having a continuing criminal enterprise, also known as racketeering. Our criminal defense team says this is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $100,000. There are nine counts of Medicaid fraud, also felonies, and punishable by up to 4 years in prison with fines of up to $50,000. Finally there are 12 counts of health care fraud, more felonies that are punishable by up to 4 years in prison, and fines of $50,000.
At his arraignment, Altantawi was granted a bond of $25,000 which he has since paid. His next scheduled court date is May 9th when he will appear for a preliminary hearing.