New York Attorney General Letitia James has successfully obtained a lengthy jail sentence for 66-year-old Californian Imran Shams for his role in a multimillion-dollar health care fraud scam. According to the Attorney General’s office, Shams will serve eight and one-third to twenty-five years in state prison after pleading guilty to grand larceny in the first and second degrees.
Shams, the head of a fraudulent enterprise that defrauded Medicaid of millions, has also consented to pay $7 million in restitution, according to the Attorney General’s office. His sentencing is not his first time in prison; he is now serving a 13-year sentence for federal convictions in similar scams. Attorney General James highlighted the harm caused by such scams, saying, “When criminal organizations abuse our health care system, the most vulnerable patients suffer.” Shams’ clinic, Multi-Specialty, was investigated by authorities for illegally giving payments to Medicaid clients in exchange for undergoing unneeded tests, which were commonly conducted by persons posing as doctors.
Shams took advantage of the Medicaid system by paying kickbacks and filing bogus claims for services that were frequently unnecessary or non-existent while working with licensed health care physicians who were part of the scheme. His activity resulted in questionable referrals to additional scheme participants, Tea Kaganovich and Ramazi Mitaishvili, who were each sentenced to one and a half to four and a half years in prison, according to an Attorney General statement. Bernard Bentley, a radiologist, was sentenced to three years of probation for his role in falsely invoicing Medicaid for more than $8 million.
Kaganovich and Mitaishvili did not escape with just a minor sentence; they had already been convicted in a related federal case and compelled to pay nearly $18 million in compensation to New York. The Attorney General’s Office thanked numerous government entities for their collaboration and hailed the team that brought Shams and his collaborators down. The prosecution was led by Special Assistant Attorney General Chase Ruddy, with guidance from NYC Regional Director Twan V. Bounds.
The Attorney General’s Office underlined its continuous commitment to combating Medicaid provider fraud and protecting nursing home patients from maltreatment. It also welcomed the public to report suspected Medicaid provider fraud or nursing facility abuse and neglect in a confidential manner. According to the statement, New York’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) receives combined funding of $70,502,916 for fiscal year 2025, with 75 percent coming from the federal government and the remaining coming from New York State.
