A Kentucky man was sentenced to one year in prison for not reporting nearly $1 million on his tax returns and defrauding Kentucky Medicaid out of over $200,000.

Hatem Kaisi, 52, of Louisville, reportedly admitted to not reporting $961,592 on his taxes from his automobile business between 2012 and 2014. He also admitted to investigators that he owed over $200,000 on taxes for the years 2001 through 2014.

Chief U.S. District Judge Greg Stivers sentenced Kaisi to twelve months and one day imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, announced Michael A. Bennett, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

“The defendant failed to report almost $1 million of income on his tax returns,” said Bryant Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office. “Today’s sentence is an important reminder that there are consequences, including jail time, for intentionally filing false tax returns.”

In a plea agreement, Kaisi also admitted to concealing his actual income from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Medicaid Services, which is the Kentucky agency responsible for administering Medicaid.  For the years 2008 through 2014, Kaisi concealed over $200,000 of income per year to fraudulently qualify his family for Medicaid benefits.  As a result of his actions, Kaisi defrauded the Department for Medicaid Services out of approximately $204,842.69.  Kaisi’s family members would not have otherwise qualified for Medicaid benefits but for his intentional concealment of income.

Kaisi also agreed to forfeit $347,095 previously seized by the United States from his bank accounts as result of the charged healthcare fraud.  The United States agreed to recommend that $204,842.69 of this be applied to the restitution Kaisi owes to the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services.   Kaisi also agreed to pay full restitution, in the amount of $209,910.80, to the IRS.

“By filing false income tax returns and abusing a federally-funded program such as Medicaid, this defendant ultimately defrauded hard-working American taxpayers,” said FBI Louisville Special Agent in Charge Robert Brown. “As this sentence is handed down during this year’s tax season, know that this type of exploitation will not be tolerated.”