May 02, 2007
The federal government has joined a qui tam suit against a hand surgeon who allegedly submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and the military’s TRICARE program.
The doctor, Houshang Seradge, is accused of filing more than $2.6 million in false claims, according to documents filed in federal court in Oklahoma City. The suit seeks $40 million in damages, a figure arrived at by trebling the amount of the fraudulent submissions and adding penalties from $5,000 to $11,000 for each false claim.
The fraud allegations against Seradge were made in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under seal seven years ago by three former employees.
An AP story on the suit ran on May 2, 2007 in the Army Times.