Physician gets nearly 8 years in prison for $37M radiology scam
An Arizona physician on Friday was sentenced to serve 7.5 years in prison for bilking the state Medicaid program of millions via a “massive” radiology scam.
The state attorney general’s offices said Irfan Fazil, MD, has been convicted of four felony counts including fraudulent schemes and artifices, illegal control of an enterprise, theft, and illegal procurement of a dangerous drug.
Between July and December 2025, Fazil used three business entities—Yuma Mobile X-ray, Bio Family Clinic, and Yuma Kidney & Dialysis—to bill Medicaid for thousands of unnecessary radiology services. These included X-rays, ECGs, CT scans, medical treatments and ultrasounds, which authorities charge could not have been delivered in this small window of time.
"Dr. Fazil abused his position as a physician to steal more than $36 million from a taxpayer funded program that exists to provide healthcare to Arizona's most vulnerable residents," state AG Kris Mayes said in a statement Oct. 2. "He billed for thousands of X-rays and other medical treatments that could not possibly have been performed and treated [the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System] as his personal bank account.”
Altogether, Fazil’s businesses collected $36.5 million in Medicaid payments in that six-month period. This is compared to $4.7 million tallied over the previous two and a half years, representing a 671% increase in paid claims. State authorities focused on the 27 patients with the highest billing volumes during their investigation. In one case, a single patient’s account was billed for over 1,700 X-rays in six months—“a physically impossible number that would have caused serious harm from radiation exposure,” the AG noted.
Fazil also wrote his wife, Nadia Hanif, multiple prescriptions for drugs such as Clonazepam while she was outside the United States. He then picked up the prescriptions himself from the pharmacy, according to the attorney general.
The physician was first convicted in September after entering a guilty plea. A state grand jury had indicted him on six felony counts in June, with a Yuma County Superior Court handing down the prison sentence on Friday. As part of his plea deal, Fazil also will serve seven years of probation following his incarceration. He also must forfeit all ill-gotten assets, including real estate, medical facilities, vehicles, multiple aircrafts, jewelry, luxury handbags, gold bars and cryptocurrency. He additionally will surrender his medical license and DEA registration, along with repaying a total of $36,542,901.45 in restitution to the state.
Fazil had been in private practice at the Bio Family Clinic for over 15 years, specializing in internal medicine and nephrology, according to his website. The state has dismissed its case again Fazil’s wife, local news reports.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.