Belizean Students Left in Limbo After Fraud Case

Medical students in Belize are facing uncertainty after Mohammad Khamis, MD, was charged in the United States with defrauding Medicaid and Medicare programs of more than $1 million.

According to a release from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, Dr. Khamis, who operated four medical practices and four pharmacies in Chicago, submitted payments for prescriptions and medical services he claimed to have performed, while he was actually out of the country. The services were carried out by a student from Dr. Khamis’ non-certified medical school in Bosnia, who was not licensed to practice medicine.

Dr. Khamis faces multiple felony charges, including six counts of theft, money laundering, managed healthcare fraud, vendor fraud, and forgery.

Dr. Khamis is listed as the Dean and CEO of American Northwest University (ANU) on the university’s website. The university is located at 2 Dry Creek Street, Belmopan,

In Belize, students who are enrolled at ANU are speaking out about the impact on their education and finances. One Belizean student told News 5:

“I’ve honestly been extremely stressed about this situation. I went to American Northwest University straight from high school, so this institution was my starting point for everything. My parents have fully funded my education, and now it feels like their money has been wasted. Over the past years, we haven’t only paid tuition; we’ve also covered rent, food, transportation, utilities, and all the basic costs that come with being a full-time student. This wasn’t a small investment , it was years of sacrifice and financial strain.”

The student added that the lack of clarity and guidance from the school has left them feeling abandoned:

“Now I’m being told to start over completely, without a clear explanation of what went wrong, what changed, or what accountability the institution will take. I came to study medicine, to grow into this profession, and to make my family proud. Right now, I feel like I’ve been left in the dark and forced to rebuild from zero after giving everything I had to this school.”

Other students, speaking anonymously, said the school compound is now locked and inaccessible, and faculty members remain unpaid. They criticized the Ministry of Education for failing to prevent the institution from operating without a final charter and called for urgent intervention.

“We are a collective of medical students in Belize who have been victimized by an international fraud scheme and a total lack of regulatory oversight,” the anonymous statement said. “We demand that the Ministry of Education and the Government of Belize immediately intervene to secure the school compound and retrieve student academic records and transcripts. We will not be silenced while our careers and finances are destroyed by a known fraudster and government negligence.”

The Ministry of Education is aware of the situation.