NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Attorneys representing obstetrician-gynecologist Javaid Perwaiz are asking a federal judge to release him from Western Tidewater Regional Jail where he’s been held on accusations of healthcare fraud and making false statements related to health care matters.
Perwaiz was arrested on Nov. 8 — more than a year after the Federal Bureau of Investigation received a tip from a hospital worker who believed the 69-year-old OB-GYN was performing unnecessary surgeries on patients.
Perwaiz is accused of filing fraudulent Medicaid claims after performing gynecological surgeries on women — sometimes without their consent — over a period of 10 years. These surgeries included hysterectomies, removal of fallopian tubes and dilation, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Lawrence H. Woodward Jr. and Emily Meyers Munn are attorneys who are representing Perwaiz in the federal case. They filed a motion for their client’s release from jail on Monday, arguing that he is neither a danger to the community or a flight risk.
Federal Judge Robert J. Krask ordered that Perwaiz be detained at the WTRJ on Nov. 14 on the basis that he is a flight risk, according to court documents. This decision came after prosecutors said Perwaiz allegedly used two different birthdays and had $1.3 million assets like homes, luxury cars, gold and rare art.
Prosecutors believe Perwaiz was using two different birthdays because police found a note with two dates of birth written on it when they executed a search warrant at his office. One of the dates would have made him 67 and the other would have made him 69.
Perwaiz’s attorneys argued the OB-GYN did not use two different birthdays, pointing to his birth certificate and passport which both reflect a birth year of 1950, according to court documents.
“The government’s proffer about multiple birth dates was based on a yellow sticky note written by an unknown person found during a search warrant,” the attorneys wrote in their motion for Perwaiz’s release. “In short, Dr. Perwaiz is not a flight risk and there is no evidence that he has ever used any false birth certificate to obtain any documents that would allow him to flee.”
Perwaiz hasn’t traveled out of the country since 2003 and turned over his passport to the government when he was arrested. His attorneys also said that Perwaiz’s luxury cars — four Mercedes and a Bentley — are only worth $85,000 collectively, and that his other financial assets are tied up in offices, a house, and a profit sharing plan that also has money in it belonging to his employees, court documents state.
His attorneys argued Perwaiz should be released with an “appropriate” set of conditions upon him: supervision, no travel outside of the Eastern District of Virginia, no contact with former patients, and no practicing medicine.
It’s unclear when Krask may make a formal decision on their motion.
Current and former patients looking to submit a tip to the FBI can do so via their tip line.
Those seeking a copy of their medical records can contact the Department of Justice.
Have a tip? Email Adrienne Mayfield (adrienne.mayfield@wavy.com) or Jason Marks (jason.marks@wavy.com).