Mental health clinic owner billed for therapy to dead woman

ST. LOUIS (AP) - The owner of a St. Louis-area mental health clinic was sentenced Friday to 18 months in federal prison for billing for therapy for a patient who was already dead.

Naim Muhammad, 56, of St. Charles, pleaded guilty in November to one count of making a false claim to Medicaid. In addition to the prison time, Muhammad must pay $366,185 in restitution to the Missouri Medicaid program.

Muhammad was president of Community Behavioral Health when he billed the Missouri Medicaid program for mental health therapy services to a female patient several times, starting on June 21, 2017. But federal prosecutors said the patient actually died on June 8, 2017.