United States Attorney's Office

News Release

U.S. Department of Justice

United States Attorney

District of Rhode Island

April 17, 2008

Criminal complaint charges physician with

fraud, illegal drug distribution

            A federal criminal complaint filed today charges Tarek Wehbe, a physician with a practice in Providence and North Providence, with health care fraud, money laundering, and illicit distribution of drugs such as Percocet, Vicodin, and OxyContin. 

            United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente, Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, Mark Dragonetti, Special Agent in Charge the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, and Susan Waddell, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, jointly announced the complaint, which was filed today in U.S. District, Providence.  A warrant has been issued for Dr. Wehbe’s arrest, but he is believed to be out of the country, possibly in Lebanon.

            The criminal complaint follows a civil complaint filed last week seeking the forfeiture of assets linked to Dr. Wehbe, including an account at Citizens Bank, and real estate located in North Providence, Lincoln, Jamestown, and Smithfield.  The forfeiture complaint alleges that the cited properties are the proceeds of nearly $3,000,000 in health care fraud.

Renaissance Medical Group

            According to federal affidavits supporting both complaints, Dr. Wehbe owns and operates Renaissance Medical Group, which has offices on North Main Street, Providence, and on Mineral Spring Avenue, North Providence.  According to the affidavits, Dr. Wehbe submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurers to obtain reimbursements for services that were not rendered, were medically unnecessary, or were “upcoded,” meaning they were billed at higher rates than warranted.

“Dr. Feel Good”

            According to the affidavit supporting the drug distribution charge, Dr. Wehbe wrote prescriptions for controlled substances such as Percocet, Vicodin, and OxyContin in a manner that was “without any medical necessity and outside the usual course of the practice of medicine.” 

The affidavit details interviews with Dr. Wehbe’s patients, some of them in drug recovery programs, who said he would easily prescribe Percocet or OxyContin.  One patient, identified as “JM,” said he had monthly appointments with Dr. Wehbe that lasted less than three minutes, and that Dr. Wehbe had written more than thirty prescriptions for OxyContin for him.  According to the affidavit, JM said that Dr. Wehbe was known on the street as “Dr. Feel Good.”

“Impossible days”

            A federal search warrant executed at Renaissance Medical Group offices on North Main Street in December 2006 turned up information supporting what is called in the affidavits “impossible days.”  Dr. Wehbe allegedly billed for visits and treatments that, if performed properly, would have taken more than 24 hours in a single day.  On March 7, 2006, he allegedly billed for 87 visits that, according to federal standards, would have taken more than 30 hours.  That same day, he allegedly issued prescriptions for narcotic drugs such as OxyContin, Percocet, and Vicodin to at least 26 patients, according to the affidavit.

Infusion treatments

            According to the affidavits, Dr. Wehbe also fraudulently billed for infusion treatments of Remicade, which is used to treat inflammatory disorders, and for treatments of chemotherapy drugs such as Paclitaxel and Gemzar.  Based on the amount of medications that he ordered from suppliers, he billed for more treatments than he could have performed, according to the affidavits.

            According to the affidavits, from 2002 to 2006, Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers overpaid Dr. Wehbe $2,995,863:   $1,815,034 for infusion drug treatments, and $1,180,829 for fraudulent and upcoded office visits and treatments.

            The criminal charges – health care fraud, wire and mail fraud, money laundering, and distribution of controlled substances – are felonies and subject to a review by a grand jury.  A complaint is merely an allegation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

            A multi agency investigation resulted in the forfeiture and criminal complaints.  It included the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement provided assistance.

            Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adi Goldstein, Richard B. Myrus, and Milind M. Shah are prosecuting the case.

Contact: 401-709-5032                Thomas.connell@usdoj.gov