Mahesh Patel, Health Care Kickbacks, New Jersey 2014
A New Jersey doctor has been sentenced to prison and fined for taking cash kickbacks for patient referrals.
Mahesh Patel, 64, a board-certified physician, was sentenced to five months in prison and five months of home confinement for taking more than $6,000 in illegal cash kickbacks for patient referrals in violation of the federal health care anti-kickback statute, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced on .
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Patel operated his own medical practice in Orange, New Jersey, and from 2010 through November 2011, he agreed to take cash payments from Orange Community MRI LLC (Orange MRI), a diagnostic testing facility, in exchange for MRI scans he referred to the facility.
Patel admitted to receiving cash on a per-patient basis for nearly two years, and on one of the occasions on which he received cash, October 13, 2011, he received $375 in exchange for his prior referral of Medicare and Medicaid patients.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Claire C. Cecchi sentenced Patel to serve two years of supervised release, forfeit $6,600, and pay a $30,000 fine.
Patel's crime is part of a larger investigation into illegal payments made by Orange Community MRI LLC, a diagnostic testing facility. Including Patel, 17 defendants, including 15 doctors, have been convicted in connection with the government's ongoing investigation.
The government is represented by Deputy Chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office Health Care and Government Fraud Unit and Acting Chief of the office's General Crimes Unit, Joseph Mack, and Deputy Chief Scott B. McBride of the office's Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman has reorganized the health care fraud practice at the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office, including creating a stand-alone Health Care and Government Fraud Unit to handle both criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions of health care fraud offenses.
Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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