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Gerald Daneshvar, Health Care Fraud, Michigan 2023
A third Detroit-area physician has been convicted of his role in a $17.1 million Medicare fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary physician visits.
A jury delivered the guilty verdict against Gerald Daneshvar, M.D., 40, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, after a two-week trial. Daneshvar was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. He was acquitted of two counts of health care fraud.
The evidence presented during the trial showed that Daneshvar visited patients who did not qualify for visiting physician services and billed Medicare at the highest billing codes. In some cases, Daneshvar billed for complex, 40- or 60-minute examinations but would often rush through as many as 22 home visits per day, averaging about 15 minutes or less with each patient.
Additionally, the evidence showed that Daneshvar ordered unnecessary tests in order to receive larger bonuses. Daneshvar was a physician for Lake MI Mobile Doctors, a home visiting physician service based in Chicago, with an office in Southfield, Michigan, from 2012 to 2013.
This conviction marks the third Detroit-area physician to be convicted in this scheme. Leonard Van Gelder, M.D., 69, of Caledonia, Michigan, and Stephen Mason, M.D., 46, of Indianapolis, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in March 2017 and December 2016, respectively.
As part of their guilty pleas, Van Gelder and Mason admitted to seeing patients who did not need their services and for whom bills were submitted to Medicare at the highest billing codes. Both Van Gelder and Mason testified at trial. The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Fraud Section Trial Attorneys Amy Markopoulos and Stephen Cincotta prosecuted the case. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which has been operating in nine cities across the country since March 2007, has charged nearly 3,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $11 billion.
Key Facts
- State: Michigan
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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