Welcome to Dearborn, Michigan: The Fraud Capital You Didn’t Know You Needed
- Habib
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
Updated: May 6
Forget Silicon Valley. Forget Wall Street. If you want to see real innovation in America, come to Dearborn—where fraud isn’t just an activity, it’s a craft, passed down like baklava recipes and business cards that say “consultant.” In this town, you don’t hustle to survive—you hustle to flex.
Pharmaceutical Fraud: Adderall, Oxy, and Other Networking Tools
Suzan Berro didn’t just commit fraud. She curated it. A $65 million pharmaceutical coupon scheme with fake patients, forged prescriptions, and fictional pharmacies? That’s not crime—that’s high-end performance art. If Broadway had a play about Medicaid scams, she'd be up for a Tony.
And while the feds scratched their heads, Dearborn just nodded: “Wallah, she’s smart.”
Refund Royalty: Sajed Al-Maarej and the Academy of Scammery
Some teach math. Some teach fraud. Sajed Al-Maarej chose the latter. Not content with siphoning $4 million from retailers in a glorified customer service cosplay, he opened up a
Telegram-based MasterClass in Theft. In other cities, that’s called crime. In Dearborn, that’s just being “business-minded.”
Gift Cards: Now You See Them, Now You’re Scammed
Two out-of-towners turned a Dearborn hotel into a fraudulent fintech hub, tampering with over 3,000 gift cards and draining balances before customers could say, “Happy Birthday.” Nothing says festive like giving your niece a $0 Amazon card and a panic attack.
Healthcare Hustles: The Hippocratic Oath is Optional
Dr. Basil Qandil handed out narcotics like free samples at Costco, while billing insurance companies like they were slot machines. The man wrote 3.7 million doses of controlled substances—allegedly—but who's counting when you're a one-man opioid economy?
And then there’s the Dearborn pharmacist who billed Medicare for medications never dispensed. They say pharmacists help people feel better. In this case, only the tax fraud felt euphoric.
The Real Takeaway: Dearborn’s Entrepreneurial Spirit is… Criminally Motivated
What do all these stories have in common? A city where the line between “business-savvy” and federal indictment is blurrier than a hookah lounge on a Friday night.
And the community? Half of us are appalled, and the other half are saying, “At least he didn’t do drugs. He sold them.”
This isn’t just fraud. This is fraud with flair. It’s Dearborn’s unofficial Olympic sport, and judging by the FBI's filing cabinet, we’re taking gold.
For the Skeptics and Facebook Commenters
1. Suzan Berro – $65 Million Pharmaceutical Coupon Fraud
Suzan Berro, a 23-year-old from Dearborn, was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for orchestrating a scheme that defrauded pharmaceutical co-pay assistance programs of over $65 million. She created fake prescriptions for non-existent patients and submitted fraudulent claims through multiple pharmacies.
2. Sajed Al-Maarej – $4 Million Retail Refund Scam
Sajed Al-Maarej, a 27-year-old from Dearborn, was sentenced to three years in prison for operating a fraudulent refund scheme that defrauded retailers of over $4 million. He ran the operation through a Telegram channel called “Simple Refunds,” where he and his team impersonated purchasers to secure refunds while allowing customers to keep the items they ordered.
3. Gift Card Fraud Scheme in Dearborn
Two Chinese nationals, Guangji Zhang and Huachao Sun, were arrested in Dearborn for conducting a large-scale gift card fraud scheme. They tampered with thousands of gift cards, monitored their activation, and drained the balances, leaving consumers with empty cards.
4. Dr. Basil Qandil – Health Care Fraud and Illegal Drug Distribution
Dr. Basil Qandil, a physician from Dearborn Heights, was convicted on 34 counts, including illegal drug distribution, health care fraud, and money laundering. He prescribed over 3.7 million dosage units of controlled substances outside the course of legitimate medical practice and submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid.
5. Haytham Fakih – $1.2 Million Medicare Fraud
Haytham Fakih, a pharmacist from Dearborn, was charged with defrauding Medicare and Medicaid of approximately $1.2 million. He billed for medications that were not dispensed and, in some cases, prescribed medications to deceased individuals.
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