Six Las Vegas doctors have agreed to pay over $600,000 to the federal government to settle claims of Medicare fraud.

The doctors entered into settlement agreements with the United States Department of Justice on behalf of the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG) to resolve allegations that the doctors were involved in a Medicare fraud scheme, announced Greg Brower, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

The United States Government alleged that the doctors referred patients to a nurse practitioner, Greg Martin, who allegedly performed unnecessary services and submitted claims to Medicare for the unnecessary services. 

Martin allegedly paid the doctors 50 percent of the payments he received from Medicare in exchange for the referrals.

The alleged conduct occurred between about 2000 and 2004.

The doctors and the amounts they agreed to pay the United States Government are:  

        Robert Shreck, M.D. (Family medicine) - Agreed to pay $94,574

        Tony Q.F. Chin, M.D. (Physical medicine and rehabilitation) - Agreed to pay $70,640

        Craig M. Jorgensen, M.D. (Internal medicine) - Agreed to pay $133,110

        Wen Liang, M.D. (Internal medicine) - Agreed to pay $212,515

        Mohammed Najmi, M.D. (Internal medicine) - Agreed to pay $60,451

        Edmund Pasimio, M.D. (Pain medicine and physical medicine) - Agreed to pay $54,440

The settlement agreements, signed by the parties in October 2008, state that they are not admissions of liability by the doctors, nor concessions by the United States that its claims are not well founded.

"The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada collected approximately $1,602,482.22 in civil judgments and settlements in Fiscal Year 2008," said U.S. Attorney Brower.

"Of that amount, $1,566,934.47 was collected  in affirmative civil enforcement ("ACE") cases, such as health care fraud; government benefit fraud, breach of contract and various other penalty and common law violations."

Civil collections by the United States Attorney's Office are distributed to government agencies which have sustained losses through default, fraud or overpayment. 

Civil penalty payments are returned to the treasury.

The cases were investigated by HHS-OIG, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roger W. Wenthe.