Brooklyn surgeon Syed Ahmed faces more than 40 years in prison after a federal jury convicted him of defrauding millions from Medicare Ā including claims he’d performed 600 procedures on one patient. He was found guilty of all six counts late Thursday night in Brooklyn Federal Court after the jury had deliberated for four hours. Prosecutors said that Ahmed, a specialist in weight loss surgery and wound treatment, billed Medicare for over $7 million in procedures, many of which were not performed on patients.
One of the first witnesses during the trial was Vitina Verrone, an Ahmed patient at Franklin Hospital. She testified that her Medicare paperwork indicated that Ahmed performed 22 phony “incisions” to drain infections during her January 2013 stay.
“How do you know that you didn’t have an infection?” asked prosecutor Debra Jaroslawicz.
“After 72 years, I think I’d know my body,” Verrone replied.
Ahmedemigrated from Pakistan in 1999.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Notopoulos argued to the jury that Ahmed billed Medicare for 5,000 surgeries over a three-year period, including 600 alleged procedures on an elderly woman. Ahmed, 49, who had offices in Brooklyn and Long Island, waived his right to have the jury decide how much restitution he must pay the government and the amount will be calculated by Federal Judge Dora Irizarry before his sentencing.
Jeffrey Newman represents whistleblowers.
