Man Charged With Posing As Center City Chiropractor
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The feds have charged a Northeast Philadelphia man with posing as a chiropractor and submitting more than $1 million in false health insurance claims.
Authorities say Tahib Smith Ali, 34, is not a chiropractor but he played one in the office.
He's been indicted on charges of treating patients in 2009 and 2010 at the Oasis Holistic Healing Village, on South 17th Street in center city Philadelphia, and then billing Independence Blue Cross for $1.1 million under the name of a licensed chiropractor who formerly owned the property.
Elizabeth Hur reports...
Assistant US attorney Beth Leahy (photo) says Ali now faces 150 counts of health care fraud, filing false statements, and aggravated identity theft.
"Mr. Ali represented himself as a chiropractor and a physical therapist," Leahy says. "The indictment also indicates that he wore scrubs and that he presented himself in a manner that would lead people to believe that he was a medical professional."
Ali did not have an attorney at his initial court appearance. He was released on his own recognizance, pending an arraignment next Thursday.
Reported by Mike DeNardo, KYW Newsradio 1060
