EDINBURG — Two men accused of defrauding Texas Medicaid nearly a decade ago entered not guilty pleas to charges of fraud Monday morning.
Edinburg resident Osama Bachir Nahas, 64, faces four charges of Medicaid fraud while Pharr resident Gerardo Javier Jackson, 51, is charged with a single count.
The Texas Attorney General’s office alleges the pair defrauded Texas Medicaid from Jan. 1, 2011, to Jan. 31, 2012.
An indictment issued against the men on Aug. 22 alleges that they conspired to defraud Texas Medicaid by obtaining unauthorized payments from the program.
Authorities allege Jackson conspired by helping Nahas obtain the unauthorized payments from the program by directing employees to perform physical services when those employees did not have the proper licenses or the formal training to do so.
The indictment also alleges those services were not supervised by a doctor of a licensed physical therapist.
Nahas is then accused of submitting false claims that included false statements or misrepresentations of material fact.
“The value of claims submitted directly or indirectly to the Texas Medicaid program as a result of this one scheme and continuing course of conduct was more than $20,000 but less than $100,000,” the indictment alleges.
The men were previously indicted in May 2017 on two counts of Medicaid fraud during an alleged conspiracy that lasted from Jan. 1, 2009, to Feb. 27, 2012, for claims totaling $200,000 or more.
That indictment was dismissed.
Both men face up to 20 years on each count.
