UPDATE: Lake Elsinore Doctor Is A Fraudster, Department Of Justice Claims

UPDATE: The suspect was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon by the California Department of Justice, according to updated jail records. He was arrested in Hemet and is due in court Friday.

ORIGINAL POST: More details have surfaced about the Lake Elsinore doctor who is being investigated by state officials on suspicion that he bilked the Medicare, Tricare and Medi-Cal systems.

An arrest warrant has been issued and charges filed against 56-year-old Mohamed Ibrahim Badr, M.D., who owns a medical office located at 703 W. Graham Avenue in Lake Elsinore.

to read about Wednesday’s raid by special agents from the California Department of Justice-Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse.

Although the charges and arrest warrant were signed off in Riverside County July 23, as of Wednesday afternoon Badr was not in county custody, according to Riverside County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Dep. Albert Martinez, and DOJ officials have not confirmed the doctor is in their custody either.

Badr is considered a flight risk, according to the arrest declaration from DOJ special agent Salvador Rojas. The doctor graduated medical school in Egypt and often travels abroad, the arrest declaration from Rojas stated.

Court documents show Badr is facing multiple charges of insurance fraud and grand theft with special allegations.

The investigation into his alleged wrongdoings began in early 2009 when Rojas and his co-investigator starting looking into complaints by two local convalescent hospitals that Badr was submitting fraudulent Medicare claims on behalf of approximately 20 elderly patients who were not under his care.

According to the arrest declaration, inspection of Badr’s Medicare filings between January 2007 and December 2009 revealed he fudged data and received more than $155,000 from the government program. Some of the fraudulent filings, according to the arrest declaration, were for dates in which officials from the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security say Badr was out of the country and could not have administered service to patients here.

Medicare sought repayment, but Badr never made good on the money, court records show.

In addition to allegedly bilking the Medicare system, Badr also received $69,000 from the federally funded Tricare system as a result of fraudulent filings, according to the arrest declaration. Tricare provides healthcare funding for military personnel and their families. Badr received another ill-gotten $28,000 from Medi-Cal, according to the arrest declaration.

In total, Badr is accused of receiving more than $309,000 from government programs as a result of fraud.

A call to Badr’s office Wednesday revealed the phone had been disconnected.