PHOENIX – Three criminal complaints charging multiple people with health care fraud associated with the COVID-19 pandemic were unsealed on Wednesday. The complaints, filed in federal court by the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office, center around healthcare fraud.
The CEO of Harmony Healthcare, Jeremiah Faber, age 45, of Gold Canyon, is charged with one count of health care fraud and one count of money laundering. The complaint alleges that Faber used Harmony’s (dba Harmony Medical Care) Facebook and other social media platforms to offer free COVID-19 testing if patients also completed Harmony’s Comprehensive Whole-Body Assessment.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Harmony then fraudulently submitted claims for reimbursement to Mercy Care, Arizona’s health care benefit program, by billing for services that were medically unnecessary and for services provided in the names of physicians who had no role in the assessment.
A total of six individuals associated with five Phoenix-area businesses that claimed to provide non-emergency medical transportation services on the Navajo Nation were charged in two other complaints:
Complaint 1: Abdul Raheem Abdul Jabbar, Nohad Loabneh, and Abedelhalim Lawabni are charged with conspiring to commit health care fraud. The complaint alleges that Abdul Jabbar, Loabneh, and Lawabni falsely billed Arizona’s Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) for more than 9,000 non-emergency medical transports in April 2020 when those transports never occurred. After the Arizona Governor and the President of the Navajo Nation both declared COVID-19 public emergencies, the need for non-emergency medical transports dramatically decreased. The complaint further alleges that their false billings in April 2020 generated a total of more than $2.75 million in fraudulent payments from AHCCCS to the three businesses. AHCCCS is Arizona’s Medicaid agency, offering health care programs to low-income Arizona residents. Loabneh, and Lawabni own and operate A&N Services, LLC. Abdul Jabbar owns and operates Freedom AZ, LLC, and is also affiliated with Desert Mobile, LLC.
Complaint 2: Miguel Denga, Husam Alsadi, and Tamarria Denga aree charged with conspiring to commit health care fraud. The complaint alleges that Alsadi and the Dengas falsely billed AHCCCS for more than 1,500 non-emergency medical transports in April 2020 when those transports never occurred. As noted above, after the Governor of Arizona and the President of the Navajo Nation both declared COVID-19 public emergencies, the need for non-emergency medical transports dramatically decreased. The complaint further alleges that their false billings in April 2020 generated a total of more than $450,000 in fraudulent payments from AHCCCS to the two businesses. Miguel Denga and Alsadi own and operate Philia Homecare, LLC. Tamarria Denga owns and operates COS 1, LLC.