A doctor formerly from Canfield is asking a federal judge not to send him to prison when he is sentenced for his role in a Medicare and Medicaid kickback scheme involving testing deemed not to be medically necessary.

In a sentencing memorandum filed by his attorney, OB/GYN, Dr. Samir Wahib is seeking a sentence that will allow him to continue his practice at a hospital in a community of under 21,000 just south of Terre Haute, Indiana.

Sentencing is scheduled next week for Wahib, who pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to solicit, receive, offer, and pay kickbacks in connection with a Federal Health Care Program, and four counts of Offering or paying Kickbacks in Connection with a Federal Health Care Program.  Other charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

The sentencing memorandum submitted to U.S. District Court Judge Philip Calabrese states that a remorseful Wahib didn’t know his actions were illegal, blaming an “undeniable failure of judgment”.

Wahib says he hasn’t practiced medicine in the Valley since the investigation began in 2017 but has been working a Sullivan County Community Hospital in Indiana since 2019.

Wahib, a 56-year-old father of three children, says in the memorandum that in addition to caring for patients in the rural Indiana community, he also needs to stay out of prison to care for his mother.

Wahib is the third doctor to enter a plea in the case.

Joni Canby, an obstetrics, and gynecology doctor from Poland, was placed on probation for two years and ordered to pay more than $160,000 in fines and restitution.

In November, Canby pleaded guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Solicit, Receive, Offer, and Pay Kickbacks in Connection with a Federal Health Care Program, and two counts of Conspiracy to Solicit, Receive, Offer, and Pay Kickbacks in Connection with a Federal Health Care Program.

Dr. Michelle Kapon of Youngstown was also sentenced to two years’ probation and ordered to pay a $75,000 fine after pleading guilty to one count of conspiring to solicit, receive, offer, and pay kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program and two counts of receipt of kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program.

According to court documents, Kapon and Canby received kickbacks from Wahib after sending samples from their patients to him for gonorrhea and chlamydia testing.

Investigators say that Wahib paid $20 in kickbacks to Canby and $15 to Kapon for every specimen they sent to him.  Wahib would, in turn, allegedly submit claims to the federal government for payment for the tests.

The government claims the payments were disguised as “physician coverage” on checks from Wahib’s business account.

Between 2014 and 2017, Wahib paid $31,520 to Kapon and Canby, while Wahib submitted 42 related claims to Medicare and Medicaid, according to investigators.