The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-25)

B4 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.MONDAY, APRIL 25 , 2022

lic health services. In the process,

that allowed us to grow as a

business and provide about 180

new jobs, which is a great thing.”

After opening the first mono-

clonal antibody infusion site, the

article said, the company was

approached by federal and Mary-

land health officials to run a

second monoclonal site and

r apid-testing center outside Fed-

Ex Field next to a state-run PCR

testing facility. “As of October, we

were receiving 15 percent of the

state allocation of monoclonal

antibodies,” Elfenbein told the

journal.

In announcing Elfenbein’s in-

dictment, the Maryland U.S. at-

torney’s office said he was among

18 people across the United

States indicted in alleged fraud

schemes that resulted in more

than $149 million in covid-relat-

ed false billings to federal pro-

grams and theft from assistance

programs.

“It is unconscionable that this

defendant sought to line his own

pockets during a global pandem-

ic by grossly overbilling Medicare

and other insurers for these vital

health care services during a time

of national crisis,” Thomas J. Sob-

ocinski, special agent in charge

for the FBI’s Baltimore field of-

fice, said in a news release. “If the

allegations against Dr. Elfenbein,

and the 17 others that were

charged today are proven, they

should be ashamed of their con-

duct and will be held accountable

for their criminal actions.”

If convicted, Elfenbein would

face a maximum of 10 years in

federal prison for each of the

three counts. The indictment

says he was “aided and abetted by

... others known and unknown to

the Grand Jury,” but it did not

name any of them.

a vacated seat in 2015.

Before the pandemic, First Call

Medical Center had about 20

employees at one location, ac-

cording to an article Elfenbein

was interviewed for in Upstate

Medical University’s alumni jour-

nal. As of October, the company

had about 200 employees at two

urgent care centers, three corona-

virus testing centers, two mono-

clonal antibody infusion centers

and a coming mobile testing unit,

the article said.

“Covid-19 has impacted every-

body,” Elfenbein told the journal.

“We were able to be forward-

thinking to provide needed pub-

it’s an independent company,

with Dr. Elfenbein — in implicat-

ing First Call, so that’s all I’ll say.

Because he operates a profession-

al corporation under Drs ERgent

Care.”

Asked if he could clarify what

he meant, he replied, “Nope. Bye.”

Other than Elfenbein, no one

at Drs ERgent Care or the related

companies has been charged or

accused of any crime.

Elfenbein graduated from

SUNY Upstate Medical Univer-

sity’s College of Medicine in New

York in 2000. He ran unsuccess-

fully for the General Assembly in

2006 and 2010, and sought to fill

tract with the Department of

Health related to coronavirus

testing and treatment.”

He holds between 25 and

49 percent of Gambrills Medical

Management, according to his

disclosure. “Neither Gambrills

Medical Management nor First

Call received any funds from the

State. I did not participate in any

negotiations with the State,” the

disclosure said.

Connor Ferguson, whose

LinkedIn page lists him as man-

aging partner of First Call Medi-

cal Center, cautioned a reporter

when reached by phone Friday:

“Just be very careful — because

ment, which, according to the

disclosure, manages First Call

Medical Center Gambrills. The

latter company operates the BWI

clinic, according to records main-

tained by the Maryland Board of

Public Works. The clinic, inside

the main terminal near Con-

course C, offers emergency care,

coronavirus testing and vaccina-

tions, as well as other services.

A LinkedIn page for Saab, a

state delegate since 2015, lists

him as co-owner of a fitness

center, president of a real estate

company, and chief executive of a

firm involved in “precious metal

recycling” tied to the same Gam-

brills address as First Call Medi-

cal Center. Dan Hazelwood, a

spokesman for Saab’s political

campaign, said Saab had no com-

ment.

A job listing during the past

year associated with First Call

Medical Center for someone to

supervise a center offering mono-

clonal antibody infusions, a

covid-19 treatment, said the posi-

tion would report to Saab and

Elfenbein.

A member of the House Health

and Government Operations

Committee, Saab recently filed to

run for the state Senate. He said

in the financial disclosure, “First

Call Medical Center had a con-

indictment said.
The indictment alleges Elfen-
bein knew many patients were
being seen for less than five
minutes but directed staffers to
bill for the higher-level services
anyway, saying they were “the
‘bread and butter’ of how we get
paid.”
A lawyer for Elfenbein, Mike
Lawlor, disputed those accusa-
tions. “In the early days of the
pandemic, Dr. Ron Elfenbein ral-
lied his doctor’s office in a time of
global fear, to be a leading provid-
er of coronavirus testing and
treatment in the community”
Lawlor said in an email. “ ... A
trial in this case will prove not
only that Dr. Elfenbein is inno-
cent of the charges hastily
brought by the government, but
that during a time of unprec-
edented need, Dr. Elfenbein and
his staff saved the lives of numer-
ous Marylanders.”
The indictment, in which E lf-
enbein is charged with three
counts of health-care fraud, iden-
tifies him as an owner and medi-
cal director of Drs ERgent Care, a
company that also does business
under the names First Call Medi-
cal Center and Chesapeake ER-
gent Care.
Drs ERgent Care was started in
2015 and listed as its “principal
office” the home address of Mary-
land Del. Sid A. Saab (R-Anne
Arundel), who was listed as regis-
tered agent, corporate records
show. The next year, the address
changed and Elfenbein became
registered agent.
Saab, who attended the
r ibbon-cutting at BWI, in Janu-
ary listed himself in a mandatory
financial disclosure as part own-
er of Gambrills Medical Manage-

CHARGES FROM B1

Federal authorities say Md. doctor overcharged Medicare

PATRICK SIEBERT/GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

Ron Elfenbein, right, talks with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) at Baltimore-Washington

International Marshall Airport in August. Elfenbein oversees coronavirus testing at the airport.

“Dr. Ron Elfenbein

rallied his doctor’s

office in a time

of global fear.”

Mike Lawlor,

a lawyer for the d octor

cials at the Justice Department

told him they wanted “to see how

this played out” in state court

before taking further steps.

“How it played out,” Descano

said, “is the attorney general

couldn’t put aside politics. ... This

should have gone to the 4th Cir-

cuit, and the fact that Miyares

didn’t let that happen is shame-

ful. ... I’m going to fight like hell to

get this back in federal court. I

have hope the feds are going to

take it.”

In front of the Justice Depart-

ment, the Ghaisars and Virginia

state Sen. Scott A. Surovell (D-

Fairfax) also attacked Miyares for

not consulting with the family, as

victims of the shooting, before

moving to dismiss the case. “What

he did yesterday,” Surovell said,

“stands completely 100 percent at

odds with what he promised Vir-

ginians he would do. ... He said he

would protect victims of crime.

I’m standing here with two vic-

tims of crime. ... The attorney

general substituted his judgment

for the judgment of Fairfax Coun-

ty citizens” who indicted the offi-

cers in a special grand jury.

Surovell pointed to a Virginia

victims’ rights law that says pros-

ecutors “shall consult with the

victim either verbally or in writ-

ing ... to obtain the victim’s views

about the disposition of the case,

including the victim’s views con-

cerning dismissal.” The Ghaisars

said they were not advised of a

possible dismissal until they

learned it was about to happen

Friday afternoon.

Thomas G. Connolly, the

Ghaisars’ attorney, first reached

out to Virginia Solicitor General

Andrew Ferguson in March to

inquire about the case, and then

again weeks later, and Ferguson

did have a phone call with Con-

nolly on Wednesday, both sides

said. No mention was made of a

possible dismissal, Connolly said,

and “they said they weren’t going

to discuss any issues in the delib-

erative process.”

Victoria LaCivita, a spokes-

woman for Miyares, said Satur-

day that “the purpose of the call

was for the family’s lawyers to

share their perspective on the

appeal.” But she said the meeting

“was not required by law, because

the statute” on victim’s rights “is

limited to circumstances involv-

ing plea agreements and dismiss-

als by the commonwealth’s attor-

ney. This dismissal did not in-

volve a plea or a dismissal by the

commonwealth’s attorney.”

Benjamin said the statute also

likely did not apply in this case

because it was in federal court,

not in a Virginia court.

The years of frustration boiled

over in the tears of James Ghaisar,

again in front of microphones

seeking answers. “I beg you to tell

me,” Ghaisar said, “what would

you do if you had lost a most

caring, loving son to police brutal-

ity, and have done everything

imaginable in legal fashion, and

no justice after 4^1 / 2 years? If you

can do anything, please do.”

asked Garland to reconsider the

Ghaisar case.

Garland did reconsider the

case, in part. He lifted a ban

imposed by the Barr-run Justice

Department and allowed FBI

agents to cooperate with the Vir-

ginia prosecution, a ban which

stymied former Fairfax prosecu-

tor Raymond F. Morrogh from

seeking murder indictments

against Vinyard and Amaya at the

end of his term in 2019. After

Descano sought and obtained in-

dictments in 2020, he said offi-

unlikely to object to Miyares’s

motion, agreeing that the attor-

ney general had the authority to

seek dismissal and that Descano

did not want to pose any delays to

the possibility of a federal civil

rights prosecution.

Although the Justice Depart-

ment previously rejected the case

in 2019, that was during the

Trump administration under At-

torney General William P. Barr.

When President Biden was elect-

ed and installed Garland as attor-

ney general, Descano and Herring

You can suspect it. But reasonable

attorneys can differ.”

Miyares said in a statement

Friday that “in light of all the

circumstances of the life-or-death

situation confronting them, Offi-

cers Amaya and Vinyard acted

reasonably in their use of force. ...

I will not perpetuate the contin-

ued prosecution of two officers

who were doing what they were

trained to do under tremendously

difficult circumstances.”

A spokesman for Descano said

Saturday that the prosecutor was

Democrat, to Miyares, a Republi-

can.

“Historically, there is a tremen-

dous amount of cooperation be-

tween the attorney general and

the commonwealth’s attorney,”

said Steve Benjamin, a Richmond

attorney and former president of

the National Association of Crim-

inal Defense Lawyers. “But the

law is clear as to who has the

ultimate decision-making power.

... That’s the nature of elected

offices. And you can’t say the

decisions made here are political.

court judge in Alexandria, to re-
ject the motion to dismiss the
case, filed jointly by Miyares and
the defense attorneys for Vinyard
and Amaya.
And, she said, “We are here to
plead with Attorney General Mer-
rick Garland to reopen Bijan’s ...
case, based on depositions and
findings in our civil case,” a refer-
ence to statements made by Park
Police officials that the officers
did not follow department policy
when chasing and shooting
Ghaisar.
Ghaisar, 25, left the scene of a
fender bender, in which his Jeep
Grand Cherokee was hit in the
rear by a Toyota Corolla, and re-
peatedly stopped and then drove
away from Vinyard and Amaya as
he headed down the George
Washington Memorial Parkway
on Nov. 17, 2017. At an intersection
in Fairfax County, the Park Police
officers tried to block Ghaisar’s
Jeep with their vehicle, and when
Ghaisar tried to maneuver
around it, both officers opened
fire. Their lawyers have said the
officers feared Ghaisar was about
to run over Amaya.

The episode was captured on
video by a Fairfax police in-car
camera and released publicly by
Fairfax police in 2018, but it has
only been played in a courtroom
once: for Senior U.S. District
Judge Claude Hilton in a pretrial
hearing last year on the man-
slaughter charges. Hilton was un-
moved, ruled the officers had act-
ed in a “necessary and proper”
fashion, and dismissed the case.
Attorney General Mark Herring
(D) and Fairfax Commonwealth’s
Attorney Steve Descano appealed
that ruling, but Miyares ousted
Herring in November and moved
to dismiss the appeal.
Legal experts said Saturday
that once the case moved from
federal district court to federal
appeals court, the attorney gener-
al’s office had exclusive control of
the case, even if the county pros-
ecutor did not approve of the
dismissal. The state attorney gen-
eral’s office joined the case at
Descano’s invitation in 2020, and
argued it before Hilton last year,
but then assumed full jurisdiction
at the appeals level, as its leader-
ship changed from Herring, a

GHAISAR FROM B1

After Va. legal move, family of man shot by Park Police u rges DOJ to revisit case

BILL O'LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST

NEGEEN GHAISAR TOM JACKMAN/THE WASHINGTON POST

“You can’t say the

decisions made here are

political. You can

suspect it. But

reasonable attorneys

can differ.”

Steve Benjamin,

Richmond attorney and former

president of the National Association

of Criminal Defense Lawyers

TOP: In May 2018, Bijan Ghaisar’s sister, Negeen, and her husband, Kouros Emami, lead friends and family in a march around the Justice

Department to demand answers in the case of her brother’s slaying by two U.S. Park Police officers in 2017. ABOVE RIGHT: James and

Kelly Ghaisar, Bijan’s parents, at the Justice Department on Saturday. ABOVE LEFT, Bijan Ghaisar and his father in a family p hoto.