New Jersey Doctor Admits Health Care Fraud Targeting Amtrak

NEWARK, N.J. – A New Jersey doctor today admitted participating in a health care fraud scheme to defraud Amtrak, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Muhammad Mirza, 50, of Cedar Grove, New Jersey, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From April 2017 through June 2022, Mirza and his conspirators agreed to engage in a scheme to bill the Amtrak health care plan for fraudulent claims for services that either were never provided or were medically unnecessary. They would recruit Amtrak employees to participate in the scheme by paying them to allow the conspirators to use their patient and insurance information to submit false and fraudulent claims. Mirza and his conspirators submitted false and fraudulent claims that caused Amtrak losses of more than $1.3 million.

The charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 13, 2023.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the Amtrak Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Waters; special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III in New York; and the Amtrak Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Sam Dotson, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine M. Romano of the Health Care Fraud Unit in Newark.