In two separate incidents, three Indian-origin Americans have been found accused of committing healthcare fraud in Chicago, Illinois. Two of the people have been accused of gathering a total of one billion dollars in fraudulent funds and the other has been accused of billing insures for non-existent services.
2 Indians Sentenced To Prison For Healthcare Fraud Worth $1 Billion
38-year-old Rishi Shah and 28-year-old Shradha Agarwal, the former executive of Outcome, a Chicago-based health-tech startup, have been accused of committing fraud worth one billion dollars.
As per the US Department of Justice, the couple obtained around one billion dollars (Rs 7,500 crore in Indian currency) in fraudulent funds.
The two have been accused of targeting Outcome's clients, lenders and investors. While Rishi has been sentenced to seven years and six months in prison, Shradha has been sentenced to three years in a halfway house.
Along with these two, Brad Purdy, the former COO and CFO of Outcome has also been accused of committing fraud and sentenced to two years and three months in prison.
Indian-American Physician Pleads Guilty To Fraud
Mona Ghosh, a 51-year-old India-American physician from Chicago has pleaded guilty of committing healthcare fraud. The doctor has been charged with two counts of federal healthcare fraud.
As per the Department of Justice, Ghosh owned and operated Progressive Women’s Healthcare, which specialises in obstetrics and gynaecology services.
During her tenure there, she admitted that she and her employees would submit reimbursement claims to Medicaid, TRICARE and other health insurance services for procedures that were either not provided or not needed.
As per the US Attorney's office, Ghosh "fraudulently overstated the length and complexity of in-office and telemedicine visits and submitted claims using billing codes for which the visits did not qualify to seek higher reimbursement rates".
Ghosh has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Her sentencing is expected to take place on October 22.
