Health care kickbacks; River Hills man sentenced, 21 months prison

MILWAUKEE - Justin Hanson of River Hills was sentenced on Friday, March 21 to 21 months in prison for paying health care kickbacks in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. 

Hanson was also ordered to pay over $2.2 million in restitution to Medicaid and Medicare as well as a $75,000 fine.

Case details

What we know:

According to court records, Hanson and his co-defendant, Mohammed Kazim Ali, owned a Milwaukee-area clinical laboratory called Noah Associates. Beginning in 2017, Ali and Hanson engaged in a three-year-long scheme to pay kickbacks to the owner of a Milwaukee substance-use treatment clinic in exchange for referrals of Medicaid and Medicare patients for urine drug testing performed by Noah Associates.

A news release says Hanson and Ali procured sham agreements that further concealed their fraud, ultimately paying over $400,000 in kickbacks to procure the tests. The tests, however, were not ordered by any physician and were not medically necessary for the treatment of patients.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android

The release says as a result of the scheme, Medicaid and Medicare paid Noah Associates over $2.2 million for the unnecessary tests. Hanson personally received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Noah Associates during the scheme.

What they're saying:

At sentencing, U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller emphasized the seriousness of Hanson’s crime, including Hanson’s manipulation and breach of trust of the Medicaid and Medicare programs to receive millions of dollars that were not truly earned. Judge Stadtmueller also noted that Hanson’s criminal conduct was significant and detrimental because he stole "from every taxpayer citizen in the United States."

Hanson's co-defendant, Ali, also pleaded guilty for paying health care kickbacks and was sentenced to 15 months in prison earlier this year.