Dr. Richard Alan Behnan, D.P.M., 55, of Clarkston, Michigan, pleaded guilty to a federal indictment charging him with Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today.
McQuade was joined in the announcement by Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Field Division and Lamont Pugh, III, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.
Behnan was a traveling podiatrist who provided services at various senior centers and assisted living facilities in Bay City, Flint, Detroit, and Lansing, Michigan. Behnan and his co-defendant, Kelly Morel, provided routine foot care to patients consisting primarily of toenail trimming. The two routinely billed these services to health insurance companies, including Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM ), as a surgical procedure. Specifically, Behnan and Morel trimmed toenails and billed the service as a nail avulsion. A nail avulsion is a surgical procedure used to treat ingrown toenails wherein the nail, or portion of the nail, is removed or torn from the nail bed below.
The investigation revealed that patients never received nail avulsion procedures from Behnan or Morel as they claimed. Further, investigators determined that Behnan and Morel billed Medicare for surgical procedures performed while Behnan traveled outside the United States. As a result of all nail avulsion claims submitted from September 2000 to December 2010, Behnan and Morel received $1,624,089.66 from Medicare and BCBSM.
Previously, on May 26, 2011, following four days of trial, Kelly Morel, 49, of Davison, Michigan, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud along with Behnan and eleven substantive counts of health care fraud.
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