Federal Officials Confirm Search Warrant Executed at Kohli's Office

A federal official has confirmed a search warrant was executed Wednesday at the office of Dr. Naeem Kohli in Effingham.

Don White is a spokesperson for the Office of the Inspector General of the US Department of Health and Human Services.  White said his office was part of a "multi-disciplinary team" that executed the search warrant.  Participating agencies also included the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Illinois State Police and the Effingham City Police Department.

Without answering questions as to why the operation was conducted, White indicated that his office is responsible for programs and beneficiaries of those programs.  He said that the two largest programs overseen by the agency are Medicare and Medicaid and said that 80% of their budget is earmarked for investigating Medicare and Medicaid fraud.

White said his office could "neither confirm nor deny investigations that may or may not be pending" that led to the execution of the search warrant.  He said any charges that might result from such an investigation could be brought by the US Attorney's office, the Attorney General's office or the local State's Attorney's office.

White said that such executions of search warrants are not unusual, but did say he "doesn't often see this level of co-operation" by the federal, state and local agencies involved.