A 63-year-old former doctor gets a five-year federal prison term in a $5.4-million Medicare fraud scheme at three Livonia clinics. He's also ordered to repay the government nearly $3 million, The Detroit News reports.
Jonathan Agbebiyi, 63, of Sterling Heights, was sentenced Tuesday in the U.S. District Court's Eastern District for his role in the scam. The doctor was convicted in May of six counts of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy.
He was a staff physician at Blessed Medical Clinic, Alpha and Omega Medical Clinic and Manuel Medical Clinic, which operated in Livonia between 2007 and 2010.
The obstetrician-gynecologist joined a conspiracy to bill Medicare for needless tests, according to evidence presented during his one-week trial.
Three clinic owners pleaded guilty earlier to conspiracy charges, Christine Ferretti reports in The News.
"We hope that cases like this one will deter other doctors from using patients as commodities for personal gain," U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade says in a statement issued Wednesday.
