A St. Louis area physician, Dr. Asim Muhammad Ali, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison following convictions in two separate federal criminal cases, one from 2020 and another from 2024.
U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey handed down the sentence on Monday. Dr. Ali, 54, was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $1,845,916 for the 2020 case and $3,902 for the 2024 case.
In the first case from 2020, Dr. Ali participated in a scheme involving kickbacks for urine specimens referred for testing at Central Diagnostic Laboratory, a company he owned. He admitted to signing prescriptions for controlled substances for patients who appeared to be distributing or giving away their medications and pre-signing prescriptions without evaluating patients or reviewing their charts at his other business, Institute for Pain Management LLC.
Judge Autrey ordered Dr. Ali and his codefendants to pay $950,381 to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), $13,993 to Tricare, and $881,542 to Missouri Medicaid as part of restitution.
The second case from 2024 involved Dr. Ali agreeing to provide health care services for Medicare patients associated with Psych Care Consultants LLC but billing under the name and Medicare number of Dr. Mohd Azfar Malik. The doctors billed Medicare for “annual wellness visits,” though Dr. Ali did not see patients in person but conducted brief phone interviews instead. Medicare paid $3,902 based on these claims.
Dr. Ali pleaded guilty in the 2020 case to conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances, illegal prescribing of controlled substances, paying illegal kickbacks for referrals, and submitting false claims. In the 2024 case he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances and maintaining a drug-involved premises.
Dr. Malik pleaded guilty to making false statements related to health care matters by submitting claims that falsely indicated he performed services when he was out of state or out of the country. He also billed a private insurer for ketamine infusions performed by Dr. Ali despite knowing that Dr. Ali was under indictment and lacked authorization from the DEA to administer controlled substances; total losses amounted to $19,442 across Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers.
In August this year Dr. Malik received five years probation, a $20,000 fine and was ordered restitution of $19,442; he has agreed to surrender his DEA registrations permitting him to administer controlled substances.
“Health care providers who unlawfully distribute dangerous and addictive controlled substances not only endanger the lives of vulnerable individuals but also undermine the integrity of our nation’s health care system. Dr. Ali exploited the trust placed in him by his patients and engaged in kickback schemes for personal financial gain,” said Linda T. Hanley, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Today’s sentencing highlights HHS-OIG’s commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to hold health care providers accountable for their unlawful actions.”
The investigation involved several agencies including HHS-OIG, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit; Assistant U.S Attorney Amy Sestric prosecuted both cases alongside Derek Wiseman and Jonathan Clow on the earlier charges.
