CHESAPEAKE, Va. — It's been five years this month since Javaid Perwaiz, a former OBGYN who practiced at various hospitals in the Hampton Roads region over multiple decades, was convicted on more than 50 counts of healthcare fraud and making false statements.
But that conviction doesn't quite convey the harm he inflicted on vulnerable patients in his care — and ostensibly, for money.
Perwaiz performed unnecessary surgeries on women like hysterectomies, sterilizations, removing ovaries, and C-sections for women and mothers who didn't need them. He would often conduct these surgeries on Saturdays when there was less oversight from hospital administration, and caused more than $20 million in losses to private and government health insurers.
Watch previous coverage: Perwaiz sentenced to 59 years in prison
Some of the women victimized by Perwaiz's were irreparably harmed by the surgeries performed on them, which were often not the surgeries they were expecting.
But the story didn't end with Perwaiz's 59-year sentence, handed down in 2021. In early 2025, a federal grand jury indicted Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, where Perwaiz practiced for many years, on charges of healthcare fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States and interference with government functions.
Watch related: Chesapeake Regional pleads not guilty to charges in healthcare fraud case
The U.S. attorney claims CRMC was reimbursed for $18.5 million for Perwaiz's surgeries, and alleges that hospital administrators were aware of his crimes.
“As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Perwaiz did not act alone in this conspiracy to needlessly sterilize and otherwise harm women. The Grand Jury found today that CRMC was complicit in this horrifying scheme to place profits over patient care,” said Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
In response, CRMC attorneys said:
"With great disappointment, we learned today that charges were returned against Chesapeake Regional Healthcare. We look forward to an opportunity to rebut these unfounded charges in court and are confident that the legal process will result in Chesapeake’s exoneration."
In the latest episode of True Crime 757, Margaret Kavanagh, who covered Perwaiz's trial and spoke to his victims, unpacks the case against Perwaiz and upcoming trial of Chesapeake Regional.
True Crime 757 is sponsored by Korslund Law
