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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v SHARIF BAIG, M.D., Defendant-Appellant.

UNPUBLISHED June 29, 2001

No. 215653 Wayne Circuit Court Criminal Division LC No. 94-007608

Before: Sawyer, P.J., and Griffin and O'Connell, JJ. PER CURIAM. Defendant appeals as of right from his convictions, following a bench trial, of sixteen counts of filing a false Medicaid claim, MCL 400.607(1); MSA 16.614(7)(1), one count of conspiracy to file a false Medicaid claim, MCL 750.157a; MSA 28.354(1) and MCL 400.606(1); MSA 16.614(6)(1), and one count of conspiracy to deliver prescription forms, MCL 750.157a; MSA 28.354(1) and MCL 333.7401(2)(f); MSA 14.15(7401)(2)(f). The trial court sentenced defendant to a term of five years' probation, and imposed a $5,000 fine and 2,500 hours of community service. We affirm. Defendant first raises a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence at trial. Specifically, defendant argues that the prosecution did not present sufficient evidence to sustain his convictions of filing false Medicaid claims under MCL 400.607(1); MSA 16.614(7)(1), which provides in pertinent part: A person shall not make or present or cause to be made or presented to an employee or officer of this state a claim under the social welfare act, Act No. 280 of the Public Acts of 1939, as amended, being sections 400.1 to 400.121 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, upon or against the state, knowing the claim to be false. [Emphasis supplied.] Our Supreme Court recently articulated the well-settled test for reviewing sufficiency claims in People v Nowack, 462 Mich 399, 400; 624 NW2d 761 (2000): [W]hen determining whether sufficient evidence has been presented to sustain a conviction, a court must view the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found -1-

that the essential elements of the crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. [Id., quoting People v Wolfe, 440 Mich 508, 515; 489 NW2d 748 (1992).] To establish that a defendant filed a false Medicaid claim in violation of

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