UPDATED: 18:03 EST, 2 October 2013
A Michigan oncologist charged with intentionally misdiagnosing patients with cancer as part of a major Medicare fraud operation will remain in prison until trial, with court officials scared he will flee to the Middle East.
Dr Farid Fata – who is accused of ordering unnecessary treatments for his patients, such as chemotherapy, to enrich himself through insurance programs – made an application in the federal court to have his bond reduced from $9 million to $500,000 so he could leave prison, where he has been held since August 6.
However the move backfired for the 45-year-old, who works out of metropolitan Detroit, with a judge today removing Fata’s bond completely, based on the ‘serious risk’ he would leave America for his native country, Lebanon, if given the chance.