Ambulance Company Owner Charged With Making False Statements In A Health Care Matter

PHILADELPHIA – Bassem Kuran, 23, of Philadelphia, formerly the owner of VIP Ambulance, Inc., (“VIP”) now defunct, was charged by information with making false statements in a health care matter, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. 

The information, filed May 13, 2016, alleges that when defendant Bassem Kuran owned VIP, the  company transported patients who were able to walk and could travel safely by means other than ambulance and were, therefore, not eligible for ambulance transportation under Medicare requirements. It is alleged that the defendant, or others acting on his behalf, falsified reports to make it appear that the patients needed to be transported by ambulance when the defendant knew that the patients could be transported safely by other means and that many of them were able to walk.  The defendant allegedly billed for the ambulance services as if those services were medically necessary and, as a result, the Medicare program paid more than $66,000 for the inappropriate method of transportation.

If convicted, the defendant faces a substantial term of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, a possible fine, mandatory restitution, forfeiture of assets, and a special assessment. The defendant could also be excluded from participating in federal health care programs.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Paul W. Kaufman and Mary E. Crawley.

An information is an accusation.  A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.