Dive Brief:
- Mark Brnovich, Arizona Attorney General, said Dr. Edward Jack Sayegh filed claims for services never provided, used fake billing codes to increase his reimbursement rates, forged patient medical records and conspired with drug dealers.
- Sayegh also prescribed pills to drug dealers for trafficking in exchange for cocaine, prostitutes and alcohol, according to the Attorney General's Office.
- Sayegh has been sentenced to four years in prison and stripped of his medical license.
Dive Insight:
Dr. Sayegh pleaded guilty to the following charges: fraudulent schemes and artifices, conspiracy, forgery, administration of narcotic drugs and dangerous drugs, billing Medicaid for services never provided, prescribing pills for drug diversion purposes and falsifying patient medical records. When his sentence is completed, he will serve five years of supervised probation.
The two-year investigation was handled by the AG's Health Care Fraud and Abuse Section.
