Hospice CEO Pleads Guilty in $60M Fraud, Cooperates Against Co-conspirators

The CEO of a onetime thriving North Texas hospice-care agency has pleaded guilty to his role in a $60 million Medicare and Medicaid fraud – and he’s not alone.

In a plea agreement, Bradley J. Harris, 39, who once ran Novus and Optimum Health Services, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud. And he’s cooperating with prosecutors in the investigation of four other healthcare officials scheduled to stand trial April 5 in the Northern District of Texas: Mark Gibbs and Laila Hirjee, both physicians and Novus medical directors; Ali Rizvi, owner of a separate physicians’ home-visit company; and Tammie Little, a registered nurse with Novus.