Detroit: Muslim Chemo Doc Called ‘Most Egregious Fraudster’ in U.S. History
Posted on June 19, 2015 by creeping
via Feds Say Metro Detroit Cancer Doctor’s Victims Top 550; Call Him ‘Most Egregious Fraudster’ In U.S. History « CBS Detroit. h/t Dee
Michigan: Muslim doctor who prescribed unnecessary chemo, pleads guilty in $91M Medicare fraud
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – The government says 553
patients were put through unnecessary treatments by an Oakland County
cancer doctor who pleaded guilty to fraud.
It’s the first time that federal
prosecutors have put a number on Dr. Farid Fata’s victims, and they’re
asking for life in prison — up to a maximum 175 years.
In a sentencing memorandum filed on May
28, the U.S. Attorney’s office says Fata, “is the most egregious
fraudster in the history of the country, measured not only by the
millions of dollars he stole but by the harm he inflicted on his
victims, over 550 identified so far.”
Fata pleaded guilty to fraud last
September, admitting that many of the patients he treated didn’t need
the chemotherapy he ordered.
“Rather than healing or easing the
suffering of the cancer patients and other who sought his help, Fata
administered thousands of unnecessary treatments — a variety of chemical
infusions and injections, all with potentially harmful and even deadly
side effects —to the patients who entrusted him with their care. He did
it entirely for his own benefit,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.
adding that Fata told “thousands upon thousands of lies” to “cajole,
frighten and deceive his patients…”
Prosecutors likened Fata’s case to that of
notorious Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff — who was sentenced to life up to
150 years — but said that Fata’s “extraordinarily evil” crimes were
worse, due to the “scope, duration and enormity of the fraud.”
Fata has agreed that the government can
prove that he was paid at least $17 million by two insurers, but
prosecutors say that amount doesn’t capture the total financial value of
his fraudulent claims.
Fata will return to Detroit federal court on July 6. The hearing is expected to last more than a week.
A resident of Oakland Township, Fata owned
and operated Michigan Hematology Oncology Centers (MHO), which had
offices in Clarkston, Bloomfield Hills, Lapeer, Sterling Heights, Troy
and Oak Park.
Fata is a native of Lebanon. He remains jailed without bond.
Related:Michigan: Muslim doctor who prescribed unnecessary chemo, pleads guilty in $91M Medicare fraud
Survivors of two of Fata’s patients told The Detroit News they’re disappointed that that the full story won’t be told in court. Liz Lupo, whose mother died of lung cancer in 2007, and Cynthia Burt, whose sister died in 2011, think Fata’s treatments were responsible for their loved ones’ deaths.
“He’s not being charged with enough,” Lupo said. “He pled guilty to a handful of patients when there were thousands. We wanted to hear the details about how he was allowed to (do this).”
But said she’s glad Fata accepted responsibility and hopes he’ll pay for his crimes with life in prison, but she said the plea deal cheats “the patients and family members (who) are not going to get the answers they seek.”
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