Unfortunately, Medicare has had to deal with its fair share of fraudsters over the years. And, as we’ve been covering in our blog for many months now, many of these perpetrators of health care fraud have faced harsh penalties in court. Parisppany, New Jersey businessman, Vijay Patel is facing the possibility of enduring a harsh penalty as he is being sued by the United States government for knowingly submitting false claims to Medicare.
As reported by The American Bazaar last week, Patel is the owner and operator of Mobile Diagnostic Testing. The 59 year-old is being accused of defrauding Medicare through the submission of diagnostic testing services in the thousands – none of which were actually performed. The civil complaint alleges that Patel violated the False Claims Act by acting alongside a cardiologist cohort who enabled him to evade Medicare’s “pre-payment review”.
The review was “initiated to ensure that the doctor was submitting claims within established rules and regulations, and which required him to submit documentation, including medical records, to support the services being billed to Medicare,” explains The American Bazaar. However, the pair was able to defraud the national social insurance program by submitting claims for diagnostic testing services they did not provide.
According to the report, “Patel submitted the cardiologist’s claims through his company and his brother’s company, Biosound Medical Services Inc. (Biosound), as if Mobile Diagnostic and Biosound had performed the services instead of the doctor.” In all, the claims robbed Medicare of upwards of $2.8 million in reimbursement money. Patel then used the money to pay his company, his brother’s company and his cardiologist conspirator.
This instance of health insurance fraud isn’t the first for the Patel family. Earlier this year, his brother Kirtish and his wife, Nita were found guilty of defrauding Medicare and other private insurance companies of more than $4.8 million. They were each sentenced to more than six years in prison for their roles in submitting claims for diagnostic testing and reports that were never performed by a licensed doctor.
The Patel couple, of course, had to pay restitution in the amount of $4.8 million. “A civil judgement further ordered them to pay the United States $5 million in damages and $2.75 million in civil monetary penalties,” reports The American Bazaar. Evidently, health insurance fraud runs in the Patel family. And it is expected that Vijay Patel’s punishment will mirror that of his brother and sister-in-law.
You may have noticed that the Allegiant Experts Blog covers stories about both health insurance fraud and medical misconduct from all over the United States and Canada. And, while we are proudly Floridian, it is never lost on us that these are major issues facing our entire continent. As a result, our team of clinical experts, here at Allegiant Experts, is steadfastly dedicated to diminishing health insurance fraud all over our country.
If you are an attorney currently involved in a case against a health insurance fraudster, we’d be happy to assist you. For more information about our experience, expertise and how we may be able help your case, please don’t hesitate to call us at 407-217-5831 or email us at info@allegiantexperts.com.
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