Mahlega Abdsharafat, also known as “Mallie Sharafat,” Creative Hospice Care, Inc., and affiliated companies (collectively, the “Creative Hospice entities”) have paid $9.2 million to settle allegations that Abdsharafat and the Creative Hospice entities entered into kickback arrangements with medical directors in exchange for referrals of hospice patients to Creative Hospice in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statue and the False Claims Act. The government’s investigation began when a former Creative Hospice employee responsible for marketing Creative Hospice’s services to healthcare providers filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that Creative Hospice paid kickbacks to medical directors to induce them to refer patients to Creative Hospice.
These alleged kickbacks included monthly stipends and a signing bonus paid to the medical directors. The compensation allegedly increased when the medical director referred more patients and decreased when the medical director failed to make referrals. Two additional whistleblower complaints were subsequently filed involving similar allegations. The Government alleges that these arrangements violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, and caused the submission of false claims in violation of the False Claims Act (FCA).