Haroon Ansari-Naz: Committing Decades-Long Health Care Fraud Across State Lines
I am writing to share a story on fraud in Elkhart, Indiana that has not yet been covered in local or statewide news. Perhaps it may already be familiar to you, but just in case, please allow me to share some context with you.
My partner and I just finished watching the Kickstarter-funded documentary film by R. Todd Stevens titled Crownsville Hospital: From Lunacy to Legacy (2018) on Amazon Prime about the horrific, dehumanizing, racist conditions at Crownsville Hospital Center (formerly known as Crownsville State Hospital and originally, until 1912, The Hospital for the Negro Insane of Maryland). The Baltimore Sun’s visual archive of the hospital can be found here. I am writing this, because the documentary has not seemed to gain the attention it deserves.
One of the segments of the documentary film is titled “Haroon Ansari” (starting at 1:18:46 in the film). In 1993, Haroon R. Ansari was hired at Crownsville Hospital as the superintendent of this psychiatric facility with no experience or qualified credentials (because he falsified a doctoral degree and two master’s degrees in the field on his résumé). The documentary segment includes a few testimonies from former employees regarding their suspicions, distrust, and dislike of Ansari, as well as photographs, and documents he signed as the superintendent. Once this fraud was finally discovered in fall 1994, Ansari was fired and plead guilty to five years of probation in 1995 for violating the state of Maryland’s personnel law by falsifying his credentials.
On July 2, 1996, he was sentenced to 10 days in the Anne Arundel County Detention Center for violating his Maryland probation by using phony credentials to secure a position as Associate Director at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan for a salary of over $87,000.
After the film producers’ failed attempts to reach Ansari (who has since changed his last name to Ansari-Naz), his lawyer called back on Ansari’s behalf, sending a cease and desist letter.
While watching, I was curious about Ansari’s whereabouts, so I Googled him and simultaneously learned (from the documentary) that Ansari is executive director at RiverPointe Surgery Center, an ambulatory surgical center, in Elkhart, Indiana since he established it on January 1, 1997 (less than half a year after violating his five-year Maryland probation for the position in Michigan). It forces one to question whether RiverPointe is really accredited in the state of Indiana for ambulatory health care. How far is Ansari-Naz willing to go for capitalist greed?
Ansari still claims to have a Ph.D., which was not only a violation of his Maryland probation back in 1997, but is this also not a violation of Indiana state law?
He has also established a number of other LLCs in Indiana since moving to the area, including Pinnacle Hospital, Medland, LaGrange Surgery Center, Ambulatory Surgical Center, to name a few. They may or may not be registered with the state any longer.
It’s frightening and feels uneasy to know that someone running a private surgery center has a record of fraud and falsifying credentials. Is there a way to investigate this further? There has been no press about him since his 1996 violation. It feels like it’s even more difficult to trust privatized healthcare corporations when people like Ansari-Naz are getting away with falsifying documents. I looked up and found documentation of RiverPointe’s state certification and licensure,
but if Ansari is falsifying his credentials, what else might he (and his colleagues or investors) be falsifying when he already has a pattern of breaking the law? . . .
He has been getting away with continuous fraud for over 23 years. He is not a “Dr.” of any kind. As a physician, who received her PhD and MD the legit way, it is BEYOND disturbing and insulting to know that Ansari-Naz (and countless others) could still be getting away with this injustice.
Ansari-Naz has been unchecked since 1997, moving across state lines, when he established the RiverPointe Surgery Center, while still in the midst of his five-year probationary period. Something doesn’t add up . . .
I have shared this story with a number of journalists, news stations, and media within and across the state of Indiana, hoping it finally gets the attention I believe it deserves.
