St. Louis Area Doctor Sentenced to 70 Months in Prison

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Monday sentenced a St. Louis, Missouri area doctor to 70 months in prison for two separate criminal cases, one charged in 2020 and one in 2024.

Dr. Asim Muhammad Ali, 54, was also ordered to pay $1,845,916 in restitution for the 2020 case and $3,902 for the 2024 case.

In the 2020 case, Dr. Ali was involved in a conspiracy to pay kickbacks for urine specimens referred for testing to one of the companies he owned, Central Diagnostic Laboratory. Dr. Ali also admitted signing prescriptions for controlled substances for patients who appeared to be selling or giving away their drugs. He also pre-signed prescriptions for controlled substances to be given to patients of one of his other businesses, the Institute for Pain Management LLC. Dr. Ali did not see the patients on the dates they received the prescriptions and rarely looked at patient charts or determined a legitimate medical need for the controlled substances. 

Judge Autrey ordered Dr. Ali and a number of his codefendants in that case to pay $950,381 to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, $13,993 to Tricare and $881,542 to Missouri Medicaid. 

In the 2024 case, Dr. Ali agreed to perform health care services for the Medicare patients of a company Dr. Mohd Azfar Malik owned, Psych Care Consultants LLC, but bill using Dr. Malik’s name and Medicare billing number. The doctors billed Medicare for “annual wellness visits,” a comprehensive yearly appointment, but Dr. Ali did not see them in person and simply called asked a series of questions. Medicare paid $3,902 for the fraudulent claims.

Dr. Ali pleaded guilty in the 2020 case to one count of conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances, one count of illegally prescribing controlled substances, one count of paying illegal kickbacks for referrals and one count of a submitting false claims. He pleaded guilty in the 2024 case to one count of conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances and to maintain a drug-involved premises.

Dr. Malik pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements related to health care matters. He admitted submitting claims for payment to Medicare, Medicaid and private health insurers in which he falsely claimed to have performed in-person services when he was out of the state or the country. He admitted billing a private insurance company for the intravenous infusion of ketamine that was performed by Dr. Ali, knowing that Dr. Ali was under indictment and lacked a DEA registration authorizing him to administer controlled substances. Dr. Malik admitted causing a total loss of $19,442 to Medicare, Medicaid, and the private health care insurers.

In August, Dr. Malik was sentenced to five years of probation, fined $20,000 and ordered to pay restitution of $19,442. He has also agreed to surrender his Drug Enforcement Administration registrations authorizing him to administer controlled substances.

“Health care providers who unlawfully distribute dangerous and addictive controlled substances not only endanger the lives of vulnerable individuals but also undermine the integrity of our nation’s health care system. Dr. Ali exploited the trust placed in him by his patients and engaged in kickback schemes for personal financial gain,” said Linda T. Hanley, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG).  “Today’s sentencing highlights HHS-OIG’s commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to hold health care providers accountable for their unlawful actions.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Sestric prosecuted the 2024 case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Sestric, Derek Wiseman and Jonathan Clow handled the 2020 case.