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TRENTON
- Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that a Hudson County doctor has
pleaded guilty to falsifying medical records
in order for a patient to submit phony health
insurance claims.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Farouk Al-Salihi, 72, a licensed
medical doctor from Jersey City, pleaded
guilty yesterday before Superior Court Judge
Peter J. Vazquez in Hudson County to a criminal
accusation which charged him with fourth-degree
falsifying or tampering with records.
At the guilty plea hearing, Al-Salihi admitted
that between Jan. 19 and Feb. 2, 2006, he
falsified records in support of an insurance
claim for a purported patient. Al-Salihi
admitted that he falsified records indicating
that the individual had undergone a continuous
course of treatment for injuries purportedly
sustained in a slip and fall accident. The
records were obtained so they could be submitted
to the Chubb Insurance Company as part of
an insurance claim. In reality, the purported
patient was an undercover investigator from
the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
State Investigators Robyn Greene and Lisa
Shea and Deputy Attorney General Steven
B. Farman were assigned to the investigation.
Farman represented the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor at the guilty plea hearing.
Al-Salihi
is scheduled to appear before Judge Vazquez
on June 15 to be sentenced. Crimes of the
fourth degree carry sentences of up to 18
months in state prison and a criminal fine
of up to $10,000. Al-Salihi also may face
civil insurance fraud fines. In addition,
this matter will be referred to the state
Board of Medical Examiners for any action
it deems appropriate with respect to Al-Salihi’s
license to practice medicine in New Jersey.
The
Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
was established by the Automobile Insurance
Cost Reduction Act of 1998. The Office is
the centralized state agency that investigates
and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance
fraud, as well as Medicaid fraud.
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