Two Pakistani men, Burhan Mirza and Kashif Iqbal, have been charged in the United States with a $10 million Medicare fraud case in which they submitted thousands of fraudulent documents to claim Medicare and other health insurance funds. Burhan Mirza is a resident of Pakistan and he handled fraud cases originating from Pakistan. His Nexus BPO solution controls sensitive patient information used to submit unauthorized claims.Kashif Iqbal, who lives in Texas, is Mirza’s U.S. agent. He is accused of helping transfer fraudulent proceeds to Pakistan and managing the logistics of the scheme from within the United States.The indictment alleges that in 2023 and 2024, Burhan Mirza and Kashif Iqbal and several co-conspirators used designee-owned laboratories and durable medical equipment providers to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare and private health care benefit plans for items and services that were not provided, Justice Department documents said. The indictment charges Mirza with 12 counts of health care fraud and five counts of money laundering. Iqbal was charged with 12 counts of health care fraud, six counts of money laundering and one count of making false statements to U.S. law enforcement. An arraignment in federal court in Chicago has not yet been scheduled.
How the scam works
The first stage of fraud is identity theft. They illegally obtained people’s health insurance numbers and personal information through BPOs located in Pakistan and submitted false claims. They then often submit false bills for diagnostic tests. Their aides impersonated the purported owners of medical businesses that Mirza and Iqbal used in false submissions to Medicare.They use IT companies as shell companies to transfer funds.
Who are the accomplices?
Three alleged co-conspirators, including a man of Indian origin, have previously been charged as part of this investigation. Mir Akbar Khan, 57, of West Chicago, Illinois, recruited and managed individuals, including Fasiur Rahman Syed, 47, an Indian citizen living in Chicago, to pose as the nominal owner of the purported medical business used by Mirza and Iqbal when they submitted false applications to Medicare. Navaid Rasheed, 43, a Pakistani citizen living in Plano, Texas, admitted that he tracked payments of false claims to companies owned by agents in the United States, as well as payments of fraudulent proceeds to co-conspirators. Khan, Saeed and Rashid are awaiting sentencing.
