Kirtish N Patel and his wife Nita K Patel each admitted to committing healthcare insurance fraud, announced US Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
They confessed to receiving about $4.3 million from Medicare and private insurance companies for diagnostic testing and reports that were never interpreted by a licensed physician.
Both individuals, aged 53, pleaded guilty before a federal judge. They were charged with one count of healthcare fraud each.
The couple’s company, Biosound Medical Services, provided mobile diagnostic testing to diagnose critical medical conditions from 2006 to 2014.
The company’s technicians would conduct diagnostic testing for a primary care physician based in the New York and New Jersey areas. After testing, the technicians were supposed to send the results to a reading physician—a licensed specialist who would interpret the results.
Kirtish Patel, however, confessed that he falsely interpreted and wrote diagnostic reports produced by his company between October 2008 and June 2014, according to an FBI press release. Mr. Patel does not have a medical license, yet he knew that the reports would be used by the referring physicians to determine the course of treatment for the patients.
Ms. Patel also admitted that she helped her husband forge physician signatures to make them appear legitimate.
The two even falsely informed Medicare that their company’s neurological tests were administered by a licensed neurologist.
The Patels each face a potential maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for March 15, 2016.
