YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – A former Valley doctor who was caught up in a kickback scheme involving two other physicians wants no jail time at his sentencing later this month so that he can continue to practice medicine.
Dr. Samir Wahib is asking Judge J. Philip Calabrese to give him no jail time so he can continue to serve the “underserved” population at Sullivan County Community Hospital in rural Indiana, according to his sentencing memorandum.
Wahib has worked several jobs since he had to close his practice in Youngstown following the litigation against him and suspension from Ohio Medicaid, and he has been separated from his family while doing so, the filing stated. He hasn’t practiced medicine in Ohio since 2017.
Wahib is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 12.
Wahib pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to solicit, receive offers and pay kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program and to four counts of receipt of kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program.
Investigators say that Wahib conspired with Joni Canby and Michelle Kapon to take money in exchange for arranging for tests for sexually transmitted diseases through federal healthcare programs.
The indictment in the 2021 case said that Kapon and Canby sent their specimens to Wahib to be tested and received payments of $15 to $20 per specimen from Wahib. Wahib allegedly then billed and was paid by the federal government for this testing.
The scheme lasted from March 2014 to January 2017, the court documents said.
The doctors practiced in Youngstown and surrounding areas.
Canby and Kapon both pleaded guilty to their involvement in the case. Kapon was sentenced to two years probation, fined $8,000, and must pay $75,460 in restitution with her co-conspirators. Canby was sentenced to one year of probation and restitution in the amount of $135,632.
