New York Attorney General Letitia James has successfully secured a hefty prison sentence for 66-year-old Californian, Imran Shams, for his involvement in a multi-million dollar health care fraud scheme. According to the Attorney General's office, Shams is to serve eight and one third to twenty-five years in state prison after pleading guilty to Grand Larceny in the First and Second Degrees.
The ringleader of a fraudulent operation that scammed Medicaid for millions, Shams also agreed to cough up $7 million in restitution, as detailed by the Attorney General's office. His sentencing is not his first encounter with prison bars—he is already serving a 13-year sentence after federal convictions related to similar schemes. Attorney General James underscored the damage done by such schemes, stating, "When criminal organizations abuse our health care system, the most vulnerable patients suffer.” In an elaborate ploy to defraud, Shams's clinic, Multi-Specialty, came to authorities' attention for unlawfully offering kickbacks to Medicaid recipients to undergo unnecessary tests, frequently administered by people pretending to be medical professionals.
Shams exploited the Medicaid system through kickbacks and fraudulent claims for services that were often unnecessary or non-existent, using licensed health care providers who were in on the scam. His operation led to questionable referrals to other scheme participants, Tea Kaganovich and Ramazi Mitaishvili, resulting in each being sentenced to one and a half to four and a half years in prison, as reported by the Attorney General’s statement. There was also a radiologist, Bernard Bentley, who was handed three years of probation for his role in fraudulently billing Medicaid over eight million dollars.
Kaganovich and Mitaishvili didn't manage to solely escape with their light sentence, though; they were earlier prosecuted in a related federal case and were ordered to pay a steep amount of over $18 million in restitution to New York. The Attorney General’s office expressed gratitude towards multiple governmental agencies for their cooperation and praised the team responsible for bringing down Shams and his accomplices. Special Assistant Attorney General Chase Ruddy helmed the prosecution, riding under the guidance of NYC Regional Director Twan V. Bounds.
The office of the Attorney General emphasized their ongoing commitment to addressing Medicaid provider fraud and safeguarding nursing home residents from neglect. It also invited the public to report suspected Medicaid provider fraud or abuse and neglect of nursing home residents confidentially. New York's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), detailed in the statement, relies on joint funding, amounting to $70,502,916 for the fiscal year 2025—with 75 percent federally funded and the remainder from New York State.
