Illinois - Doctor Naeem Mahmood Kohli, Indicted on Charges of Health Care Fraud and Illegal Dispensation of Controlled Substances

PRESS RELEASE: March 26, 2014
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Illinois

A federal grand jury sitting in East St. Louis, Illinois returned a 15-count indictment against an Effingham County doctor, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. The indictment was opened today upon the arrest and arraignment of the doctor in Benton, Illinois.

Naeem Mahmood Kohli, 59, of Effingham, Illinois, operated the Kohli Neurology and Sleep Center, located on North Maple in Effingham, Illinois. The indictment alleges that, for some patients, Kohli did not operate a legitimate medical practice but instead was engaged in a scheme to illegally distribute controlled substances by running what was in essence a prescription service for drug addicts, commonly known as a pill mill. The indictment also alleges that Kohli defrauded Health Care Benefit Programs, namely, Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, by billing for services not provided.

In the indictment, Kohli is charged with the following offenses: (1) health care fraud in counts one through three, which carry penalties of a maximum of 10 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, a maximum of three years’ supervised release; (2) illegal distribution of a Schedule II controlled substances (oxycodone, hydromorphone, and methadone) in counts four through 13, which carry penalties of a maximum of 20 years in prison, a maximum fine of $1,000,000, no less than three years’ supervised release; and (3) money laundering in counts 14 and 15, which carry penalties of a maximum of 10 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and one year of supervised release. A $100 special assessment must be imposed on each count.

An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury.

The matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the Illinois State Police, Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael J. Quinley and Ranley R. Killian.

If you suspect or know of an individual or company that is not complying with health care laws or public aid programs, you may report this activity to the local office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, or you may call 1-800-447-8477.

http://www.fbi.gov/springfield/press-releases/2014/effingham-doctor-indicted-on-charges-of-health-care-fraud-and-illegal-dispensation-of-controlled-substances