Jigar Patel, 31, a physical therapist assistant of Michigan was sentenced yesterday to 50 months in prison by US District Judge Terrence Berg for his role in billing federal health insurance programmes for home health services that were never provided.
In addition to his prison term, Patel was asked to pay USD 1.9 million in restitution for the healthcare fraud in which he provided beneficiaries with prescriptions for unnecessary painkillers and other narcotics to induce them to sign false medical documents to support the fraudulent billings, Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said in a statement.
In addition, Mirza and Patel were found guilty of two counts of health care fraud, and Reddy was found guilty of three counts of health care fraud and they will be sentenced at a later date.
Meanwhile, Patel was also found guilty of one count of money laundering.
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As a result of the defendants' fraudulent conduct, Medicare paid nearly USD 15 million.
The defendants used these companies to pay kickbacks to recruiters for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries. In turn, the recruiters paid the beneficiaries cash and promised them access to unnecessary prescriptions for painkillers and other narcotics.
Through a fifth company, the defendants employed unlicensed individuals, including Reddy, to provide the beneficiaries with the promised prescriptions and to obtain the necessary information to complete the referrals for medically unnecessary home health care services.
In the course of the conspiracy, Patel incorporated his own staffing company through which he laundered proceeds of the fraud.