An Alabama pain management doctor who pled guilty to healthcare fraud and unlawful distribution of a controlled substance will be asked to pay over $14.7 million in restitution to companies he defrauded.
Dr. Rassan Tarabein defrauded five healthcare providers over a 13-year span, according to FBI court documents. The doctor will be asked to pay $12.2 million for fraudulent procedures and $2.5 million in fraudulent prescriptions.
Tarbein, a Fairhope-based pain management physician, made a plea agreement with prosecutors where he admitted that from around 2004 to May 2017 he ran an insurance scam in which he convinced patients to visit his clinic so that he could bill healthcare benefit programs for medically unnecessary tests and procedures. The purpose of Tarabein's scheme was to maximize personal financial gain by fraudulently seeking payments from healthcare benefit programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, Humana, UnitedHealthcare, and other private insurers.
Detailed financial documents showed that Tarabein send hundreds of thousands of dollars to his birthplace of Syria and his ex-wife in Morocco. In addition, the neurology specialist is alleged to have intimidated witnesses during the trial.
Tarabein is scheduled to be sentenced in June and could face up to 30 years in jail.