An Arizona eye doctor is accused of defrauding several agencies and private health insurers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by forging bills and exam documents.

According to a release Friday, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced that Dr. Michael Lee Ham, an ophthalmologist and eye surgeon at Kokopelli Eye Institute, was indicted by a state grand jury on charges of conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and artifices, illegal control of an enterprise, theft, and money laundering.

Dr. Ham allegedly defrauded Medicare, the United States Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, as well as several private health insurers. He is accused of fraudulently billing the institutions hundreds of thousands of dollars for nearly a decade between 2009 and 2018. Dr. Ham was arrested Thursday, Jan. 2 in Prescott Valley.

Kokopelli Eye Institute has eight ophthalmology offices in Arizona: Prescott, Prescott Valley, Peoria, Wickenburg, Surprise, Kingman, Glendale, and Fountain Hills. Valley locations were not open Friday.

According to a release, between May 13, 2009, and Oct. 10, 2018, Dr. Ham allegedly directed 46 current and former subordinate employees to fraudulently complete patient eye examination documents with false information and/or to artificially include deficient exam results in order to meet third-party insurer standards to determine whether disbursement of payments for cataract and laser surgeries are rendered.

The AG's Office said the false information was calibrated in such fashion to satisfy the standards of third-party insurers —public and private — for cataract or laser surgery coverage. Officials allege fraudulent exam documents were maintained in patient records in the event of scrutiny or oversight via prospective audits related to the legitimacy or necessity of payments made to Kokopelli for cataract or laser surgery.

It is possible that some patients had cataract surgeries that were not medically necessary, officials stated.

Agencies involved in the investigation include the Special Investigations Section of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and AHCCCS.

The criminal case is ongoing. According to a release, no further comments will be made regarding other defendants, whose names were omitted in an indictment released by the Arizona AG’s Office. The indictment also states that other unnamed people were involved.

Assistant Attorneys General Cynthia Giltner and Brett Harames are prosecuting the case.

Anyone with information concerning these matters or Dr. Ham can contact Special Agent Mark McClain in Prescott at 928-778-7463.

According to Kokopelli's website, Dr. Ham has been a practicing ophthalmologist and eye surgeon for over 20 years, performing nearly 20,000 surgeries in both the Phoenix area and Prescott/Prescott Valley.

The Associated Press found in Arizona Corporation Commission records that Dr. Ham is corporate chairman and president of Kokopelli.

In a statement to the Daily Independent the morning of Monday, Jan. 6, Kokopelli Eye Institute said its offices are open as usual and medical staff is there — including Dr. Ham — to assist patients.

"Dr. Ham intends to vigorously oppose the charges and despite not needing to prove innocence, will show in court that all medical procedures were appropriate and correctly billed," according to the statement.