The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri announced on Mar. 6 that a Missouri psychiatrist has agreed to pay $360,000 in a civil settlement to resolve allegations of submitting false claims to federal health care programs.
The case concerns Dr. Shazia Malik, who was accused of falsely billing Medicare and Missouri Medicaid for psychotherapy services she claimed to have provided between Jan. 1, 2019, and May 31, 2024. The allegations include submitting claims for face-to-face psychotherapy sessions when she was out of town or when services were actually provided by other practitioners at Behavioral Health Services LLC, which operated Psych Care Consultants in St. Louis.
As part of the settlement, Dr. Malik will pay $155,000 in restitution to Medicare and $25,000 to Missouri Medicaid; these amounts are doubled under the False Claims Act (FCA). The agreement does not include an admission of liability from Dr. Malik. In December 2025, she pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements related to health care matters.
Special Agent in Charge Linda T. Hanley of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said: “Health care professionals who knowingly submit false claims to federal health care programs undermine the financial integrity of those taxpayer-funded programs.” Hanley added: “Today’s settlement reflects HHS-OIG’s commitment to ensuring Medicare and Medicaid are billed only for services actually provided and to continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to protect the well-being of patients and to safeguard public funds.”
Dr. Malik’s brother, Modh Azfar Malik, who was part-owner of Behavioral Health Services, also faced similar allegations. In July 2025 he entered a civil settlement paying $501,556 and pleaded guilty in April 2025 to making a false statement regarding a federal health care program. His medical license was revoked for four years as part of a separate settlement with the Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts.
The investigation involved cooperation among several agencies including the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, HHS-OIG Office of Investigations, the Missouri Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the FBI.
