Clinic manager sentenced in Medicare fraud scheme

DETROIT (AP) -- A 27-year-old health clinic manager will spend three years, four months in prison for his role in a $7.4 million Medicare fraud scheme involving a Detroit-area clinic. Alejandro Haber was sentenced last Thursday in U.S. District Court in Detroit after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Haber is from the Miami area. He also was ordered to pay $5.3 million in restitution. His father Emilio has been sentenced to five years in prison as part of the scheme. Medicare paid out about $5.3 million for medically unnecessary tests and services performed on patients recruited for Ritecare LLC. The government says kickbacks were made to patient recruiters and Medicare beneficiaries. It says patients were told to fake certain symptoms. Prosecutors say the most expensive tests were nerve conduction studies. Published: Mon, Jul 30, 2012