Dr. Muhammad S. Awaisi, a medical doctor from Pontiac, Mich., was convicted by a federal jury on five charges related to a scheme in which he created fraudulent medical documentation to help immigrants obtain U.S. citizenship. He conspired with a local psychologist, Firoza Van Horn, to produce fraudulent medical records for citizenship applicants seeking waivers for English language and citizenship test requirements, a July 27 news release reported.
“Our country proudly celebrates those who immigrate to the United States and work hard to meet the citizenship requirements. Dr. Awaisi’s fraud is an affront to all those honest immigrants as well as to his most basic ethical requirements as a physician,” U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison said in the release.
Ison said a federal jury found Awaisi, 64, guilty of five counts connected to a scheme in which he fabricated medical records to help immigrants attain citizenship, the release said. Ison was joined in the announcement by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Director of Field Operations Christopher Perry and Acting Special Agent in Charge Devin J. Kowalski of the FBI's Detroit Field Office.
After a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Victoria A. Roberts, Awaisi was found guilty on two charges of attempting to obtain naturalization against the law and on two counts of creating and using fake documents. She was also found guilty on one count of conspiring to commit an act against the U.S. and to defraud the U.S., the release reported.
Evidence showed Van Horn and Awaisi worked together to fabricate medical records for foreign nationals applying for citizenship in the U.S., according to the release. The fake medical records were intended to be utilized by citizenship candidates looking for medical exemptions from the demands they prove their proficiency in the English language and pass a citizenship test.
Awaisi performed bogus medical exams as part of the plan and falsely claimed to diagnose citizenship aspirants with a range of medical ailments, the release reported. To support his false diagnoses, Awaisi also issued prescriptions for medically unnecessary restricted substances, including an opioid. Van Horn admitted to plotting with Awaisi in the past and is presently awaiting sentencing.
Awaisi faces a maximum five-year sentence for conspiring to violate American law and defraud the U.S., a maximum 10-year sentence for each count of attempting to obtain naturalization against the law and a maximum five-year sentence for each count of fabricating and using false documentation. The judgment date is set for Dec. 4, according to the release.
The release credits the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services-Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate for looking into the issue. Assistant U.S. attorneys Jerome F. Gorgon and Andrew J. Yahkind prosecuted the case.
