An Essex County doctor accused of recruiting Amtrak employees to fraudulently bill their health insurance for unnecessary services and then paying kickbacks to the employees was sentenced to 26 months in prison, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced Tuesday.
Muhammad Mirza, 51, of Cedar Grove previously plead guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
Between April 2017 and June 2022, Mirza and other conspirators agreed to bill Amtrak’s employee health care plan for services that were never provided or were medically unnecessary, prosecutors alleged in the complaint filed in June 2022.
Mirza and others paid Amtrak employees to use their health insurance billing information in order to submit claims that the health care company would reimburse Mirza’s office for, officials said in a news release. Amtrak lost more than $1.3 million as a result of the fraud, authorities said.
An Amtrak spokesperson referred questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Mirza operated medical offices in New Jersey, New York and other states, court documents show. An attorney for Mirza did not immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday.
In addition to the prison term, Mirza was also ordered to pay $1.37 million in restitution and serve two years of supervised release.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Matthew Enuco may be reached at Menuco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Matt on X
