SUBURBAN CHICAGO MAN INDICTED ON FEDERAL HEALTHCARE FRAUD CHARGES

The following information was released by the United States Attorney's Office Northern District of Illinois:

A suburban Chicago man has been indicted on federal healthcare fraud charges for allegedly submitting more than $17.3 million in fraudulent claims to a private insurer.

SHAWN BASHIR created fictitious entities called Success for Kids and Growing Kids Therapy, which purportedly provided early intervention services to children. From 2019 to 2025, Bashir submitted and caused to be submitted false and fraudulent claims from those entities to a private insurer for therapy services that had not actually been provided, according to an indictment unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Bashir submitted and caused the submission of approximately $17.3 million in false and fraudulent claims, causing the private insurer to pay at least $1.4 million for services that were not provided, the indictment states.

The indictment charges Bashir, 39, of Grayslake, Ill., with eight counts of healthcare fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Bashir pleaded not guilty to the charges during his arraignment on Friday in federal court in Chicago. A status hearing was scheduled for Nov. 12, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis.

The charges against Bashir mark the first indictment returned by thenewly created Healthcare Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago. U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros created the Section last month tobring greater focus, efficiency, and impact toone ofthe Department of Justice's top fraud enforcement priorities. The Chicago U.S. Attorney's Office has charged nearly $2 billion in alleged healthcare fraud schemes since Mr. Boutros became U.S. Attorney in April 2025.

The indictment against Bashir was announced by U.S. Attorney Boutros andDouglas S. DePodesta,Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI,Megan Howell, Special Agent-in-Charge, Great Lakes Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, and Kelli Hammerl, Acting Regional Director of the Chicago Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Irene Hickey Sullivan.

Thepublic is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.