A doctor and a clinic employee from the Rio Grande Valley have been sentenced to prison after being convicted of participating in a multimillion-dollar healthcare fraud scheme targeting elderly and vulnerable patients at adult daycare centers, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Dr. Osama Nahas, 70, of McAllen, and Isabel Pruneda, 54, of Edinburg, were found guilty by a federal jury on March 1, 2024. Their convictions included conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud, and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute. Pruneda was also convicted of aggravated identity theft.
Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced Nahas to 120 months in prison and Pruneda to 97 months. Both will serve three years of supervised release following their prison terms and are required to pay more than $3.1 million in restitution to Medicare. During sentencing, the court described both defendants as “predators” who exploited elderly, disabled, and otherwise vulnerable patients.
“Medical professionals have a solemn obligation to heal the sick and infirm, not to subject them to unnecessary treatments solely for the sake of making a quick buck,” said Ganjei. “The defendants here abused their unique position of trust and shamelessly took advantage of particularly vulnerable victims. Now they will have several years in prison to reflect on their actions.”
Nahas owned Crosspoint Medical Clinic in Edinburg and traveled throughout the region ordering unnecessary lab tests and prescriptions for clients at adult day care centers. Pruneda worked as a medical assistant at Crosspoint and played a role by forging patient signatures on consent forms and misappropriating costly medications such as pain creams.
Pruneda would remove patient information from these medications before distributing them as incentives—referred to as “goodie bags”—to encourage participation in testing. From January 2016 through December 2017, both ordered unnecessary prescriptions and lab work that led to millions in losses for Medicare by directing business toward specific companies in exchange for illegal kickbacks.
In June 2018, law enforcement searched Crosspoint Medical Clinic and seized hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of stolen medications. The investigation revealed that Nahas and Pruneda paid bribes disguised as “rent” payments to gain access to adult day care facilities for their fraudulent activities. Witnesses testified that both accepted kickbacks for referrals under the guise of rental agreements.
Evidence showed that between January 2016 and December 2017, both received tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks related to these schemes.
Nahas has been allowed bond pending voluntary surrender while Pruneda remains in custody awaiting transfer to a federal prison facility.
The case was investigated by multiple agencies including the FBI; Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General; Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit; and Texas Health and Human Services - OIG. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Swartz and Brad Gray prosecuted the case.
