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Uploaded: Sunday, August 26, 2012, 11:52 AM
Updated: Thursday, August 30, 2012, 7:34 AM
Former IT manager at Kaiser Permanente pleads guilty to fraud scheme
Accused of defrauding health care company of $1.8 million in pay for supposed contract worker who did no work
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A former information technology manager for Kaiser Permanente has pleaded guilty in federal court in Oakland to charges related to a scheme to defraud the health care company of $1.8 million in pay for a supposed contract worker who did no work.
Kaiser Permanente's IT division is based in Pleasanton.
Asim Waqar, 39, formerly of Oakland and now of Windsor, Canada, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton on Wednesday to
one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of tax evasion.
He will be sentenced by Hamilton on Sept. 26.
U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said Waqar admitted in the plea to conspiring with a college friend and the friend's wife, Farid Rahman and Mina Kuhl, of Windsor.
At Waqar's strong urging, Haag said, Kaiser hired Kuhl as a contract technical consultant between 2005 and 2008.
During that time, Kaiser paid $1.8 million for Kuhl's employment, including $1.5 million to Kuhl and about $300,000 to outside companies that
arranged contract employment.
Waqar received about $428,300 in kickbacks from Kuhl and Rahman during that period, Haag said.
The U.S. attorney said Waqar admitted that "Kuhl performed no work for Kaiser" after being hired, but that Waqar logged onto a Kaiser computer in her name and falsely reported hours that she never worked.
In an affidavit filed in the case last year, FBI Agent William Leoni said Kuhl's supposed work was billed at an average of $150 per hour, with Kuhl receiving $125 of that amount and the outside contractor the remainder.
Leoni said Kuhl's time records showed that she supposedly worked an average of 60 hours per week in 2005, 59 hours per week in 2006, 76 hours per week in 2007 and 78 hours per week in 2008.
Rahman, 43, and Kuhl, 37, were also charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and Rahman was additionally accused of tax evasion.
They pleaded guilty to all charges in March. In June, Rahman was sentenced to one year and six months in prison and Kuhl was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.
They were ordered to pay $1,803,667 in restitution to Kaiser and $133,044 to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Haag said.— Bay City News Service Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Mike, a resident of the Highland Oaks neighborhood, on Aug 26, 2012 at 3:01 pm Crime does not pay!
Mike
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Posted by Mr. Mittens, a resident of Livermore, on Aug 26, 2012 at 3:13 pm ... which is exactly why we want these irksome govt regulators off of our backs. If the poor over-worked manager had been given a bigger tax cut, he wouldn't have had to resort to such unfortunate compensatory measures.
Mitt -- Willing to stand up for the overtaxed wealthy against the entitlement state.
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Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore, on Aug 26, 2012 at 4:53 pm stupid folks get an itsy bitsy buzz for a few minutes and then they get busted! i'm so tickled by this story! can't figure out whose more stupid, Kaiser's Watch Patrol or the thiefs!
tee hee...this has got to be the story of the week...
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Posted by Mrs mittens, a resident of the Avignon neighborhood, on Aug 26, 2012 at 8:20 pm Thank goodness for diversity. Yet another example of criminals from other cultures infiltratIng our country to commit crimes in order to send money back to their homeland.
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Posted by William Teller, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Aug 27, 2012 at 8:25 am Mrs. Mittens - I'm with you - let's help Mr. Waqar "celebrate diversity" by either cutting off his hand or stoning him to death. Funny how these people are all for Sharia law until they get caught doing something - then they want to lenient Kamala Harris "no punishment for criminals" American justice system.
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Posted by Crime did pay, until, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Aug 27, 2012 at 10:20 am they got caught!
Doesn't say how they caught them.
Wonder how many more scams like this there are out there?
Interesting-It says:
They were ordered to pay $1,803,667 in restitution to Kaiser and $133,044 to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Haag said.
But Kaiser only paid $1.8 million- so it appears the IRS wants to tax the same money that the thieves have to give back?
I've heard it said: Don't Steal- The gov't hates competition!
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Posted by Victor, a resident of the Foothill Farms neighborhood, on Aug 27, 2012 at 12:58 pm Great idea Mr. Teller, Sharia law, see how he would support it if it applied to him............That's why they come to America they know they can pull this crap and get a mild sentence if any.............
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Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore, on Aug 27, 2012 at 4:25 pm Pretty is as pretty does! tee hee
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Posted by Not American Immigrants, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Aug 27, 2012 at 5:05 pm Ummmmm - did anyone realize 2 of the 3 individuals did NOT come to America but did it from Windsor, Ontario, CANADA?
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Posted by Amos, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Aug 27, 2012 at 5:06 pm Geez, did Cholo crawl out of the woodwook? We haven't heard from him in a while, and his absence was very-much appreciated by all.
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Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore, on Aug 27, 2012 at 5:29 pm I've been very busy stirring it up...thank you for noticing!
tee hee
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Posted by john, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Aug 27, 2012 at 8:15 pm "these people"? "Sharia law"?
I don't see anything in this article about "sharia law". Who are "these people"? What are you talking about?
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Posted by Pete, a member of the Foothill High School community, on Aug 28, 2012 at 8:59 am Reason why I have never and never will trust/welcome "these" people. The are the worse criminals and "cons"
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Posted by AGUYFROMKPIT, a resident of the Stoneridge neighborhood, on Aug 28, 2012 at 9:03 am I work at Kaiser and know of him. Years ago, I hear his name mentioned when projects he was working on came up. I never worked on any of his projects but I saw him around the office. What fascinated me with this guy was how his name was pronounced. I would hear "Awesome" this and "Awesome" that in the office. I never knew how it was spelled until now. I was shocked when the news of the fraud first broke(years ago). Sad how greed can make people do these things.
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Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore, on Aug 29, 2012 at 10:06 am i agree with armpit...it's ALL ABOUT GREED! i guess they enjoyed believing for a minute that they wouldn't get caught...BUSTED!
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Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore, on Aug 29, 2012 at 7:02 pm If pete doesn't approve of the folks that out-slicked kaiser, then go back to where your ancestors came from...now give it a good flush!
tee hee
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