A woman who allegedly claimed to be a doctor has been indicted by the federal grand jury in Denver for defrauding the Medicare and Colorado Medicaid programs.
Dilorom Asimova, 50, of Aurora was known to her patients as “Doctor Dilla,” according to the indictment.
It said Terry Gardner, 62, of Chesterfield, Mo., operated TJD Medical Center Rehab along with Asimova. The company had offices in both Wheat Ridge and Aurora.
Gardner, according to the indictment, is a licensed physician in Colorado.
According to a release from the U.S. attorney’s Office in Denver, Gardner couldn’t spend a lot of time with TJD in Colorado because he was working full-time as a commercial airline captain for Trans States Airlines based in St. Louis.
The indictment alleged that TJD was a medical practice which served both Medicare and Colorado Medicaid as well as other private and government-sponsored health insurance programs.
The indictment alleged that Gardner and Asimova conspired to submit fraudulent claims for health care services to Medicare and Colorado Medicaid.
Both require that before claims could be submitted there had to be direct face-to-face contact between a doctor and patient or that medical assistance was given under the direct supervision of a doctor.
Although Asimova diagnosed and treated patients at TJD, she was not a doctor, said the indictment. Further, Asimova treated patients without being supervised by a doctor. The indictment also alleged that Medicaid and Medicare were also billed for Gardner’s services, when he was actually flying at the time the services were supposedly rendered.
Asimova is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud; 12 counts of health care fraud; and one count of making a false statement.
Gardner is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud; 12 counts of health care fraud, and one count of making false statements in relation to a health care matter.
Asimova surrendered Thursday in Denver and Gardner was arrested Thursday in St. Louis.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
