U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced today that the government has filed a complaint against a Union County doctor and his medical practice companies for knowingly submitting millions of dollars in false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for thousands of diagnostic tests that were never performed and for physical therapy services performed by unqualified personnel.
The civil complaint, filed today in Newark federal court, charges Dr. Labib E. Riachi, 47, of Westfield and two companies that he owns and operates, Riachi, Inc. and Center for Advanced Pelvic Surgery, LLC, both based in Westfield, with violating the False Claims Act, among other illegal conduct.
According to the complaint:
The defendants routinely billed Medicare and Medicaid for anorectal manometry, an invasive diagnostic test, and electromyography, another diagnostic test, even though most of the tests were never performed. In addition, the defendants submitted claims to Medicare for physical therapy services that should not have been paid because they were not performed by a qualified therapist. This scheme resulted in millions of dollars of reimbursement that would not have been paid but for the defendants’ misconduct.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bernard J. Cooney and Lucy Muzzy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Health Care and Government Fraud Unit in New