Mr. Collins was one of 12 individuals indicted in January in connection with a $14.5 million fraudulent billing scheme by Patient Choice Home Healthcare and is the sixth to plead guilty. Mr. Collins was personally responsible for submitting or causing the submission of approximately $6.96 million in false or fraudulent claims to the Medicare program between Aug. 2007 and Oct. 2009, according to court documents.
According to Mr. Collins’ plea, in the late spring or early summer of 2007, he was hired by co-conspirator Muhammad Shahab as a nurse to work at Patient Choice. The company purported to provide home health services, including physical and occupational therapy services, to Medicare beneficiaries, which were then billed to Medicare. Mr. Collins admitted that he offered to become a beneficiary recruiter for Mr. Shahab and Patient Choice. As a recruiter, he solicited Medicare beneficiaries and offered them cash kickbacks in exchange for their Medicare patient information and signatures on medical documents. Mr. Collins admitted that he knew the beneficiaries he recruited were not homebound nor did they need physical therapy services and that he knew Patient Choice used the beneficiaries’ Medicare information to bill Medicare for unperformed or medically unnecessary physical therapy.
In June 2008, Mr. Shahab helped finance and establish All American Home Care, which was owned at various times by Hassan Akhtar and Mr. Shahab. Beginning in April 2009, however, All American was owned by Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins admitted that he became the exclusive beneficiary recruiter at All American, recruiting hundreds of patients to the home health agency through the payment of cash kickbacks in exchange for their Medicare information and signature on medical documents. He also admitted that All American billed Medicare for physical therapy services that were either not rendered or not medically necessary.
Mr. Collins’ sentencing is set for Sept. 23. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Read the DOJ’s release on Christopher Collins.
