HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - A Chesapeake doctor is accused of performing unnecessary surgeries on patients.
A judge decided Thursday morning that Javaid Perwaiz will not get bond. He will remain behind bars.
He is accused of performing unnecessary hysterectomies and the removal of ovaries and Fallopian tubes, according to court documents.
Javaid Perwaiz
The 69-year-old was arrested for health care fraud last Friday, but the FBI has been investigating him since September 2018.
Federal prosecutors filed paperwork outlining why they wanted him held in jail.
During the court hearing Thursday morning, prosecutors said the FBI has interviewed 36 current or former patients and 173 have come forward with information.
Prosecutors said Perwaiz should be considered a flight risk because he has no family in America, has assets that would allow him to flee, and has ties to Pakistan.
Perwaiz's attorney argued he's been a US citizen for 40 years and hasn't left the country since 2003. The attorney said there could be conditions in place to ensure he could be released, but in the end the judge ruled in favor of the prosecution.
Records state he has $40,000 spread across three bank accounts, owns five luxury automobiles – including a Bentley and four Mercedes - claimed to have $200,000 in gold/art in his home and owns $1.3 million in real estate.
In court documents, prosecutors have been outlining their case up to this point. They state, “Dr. Perwaiz has been charged with perpetrating a long-running health care fraud scheme in which he performed unnecessary gynecological surgeries on women. He abused his position of trust, and his medical training, for his own financial gain and to the severe detriment of many of his patients.”
Perwaiz's patients advised hospital staff they were present for their "annual clean outs." In many instances, reports say the patients were not aware of the procedures they were undergoing.
From January 2014 to August 2018, Perwaiz performed a surgical procedure on 40% of his Medicaid beneficiaries, which amounted to 510 patients, reports show. Of the 510 patients, approximately 42% of them underwent two or more surgeries.
Witnesses also alleged that Perwaiz routinely used the "C-word," referring to cancer, to scare patients.
News 3 met up with Ashely McGrath, who said Perwaiz was her doctor.
She said he recommended surgery last March, and now she is questioning whether it was necessary.
She said she is trying to get copies of her medical records from his office.
“I trusted him as a medical professional,” said McGrath. “I know what he possibly could have done. It sits uneasy knowing he could have done something that he wasn’t supposed to do.”
One unnamed victim in the court documents told the FBI, “Dr. Perwaiz has performed 8 surgical procedures on me, including a hysterectomy when I was 28. Recently, I underwent an unrelated surgery. The surgeon said my insides were a disaster.”
