Indian convicted for orchestrating $2.8mn healthcare fraud in US

New York, Sep 28 (IANS) A 43-year-old Indian national has been convicted by a federal jury in Michigan for orchestrating a $2.8 million healthcare fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, and engaging in money laundering, aggravated identity theft and witness tampering.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Yogesh Pancholi owned and operated Shring Home Care Inc. (Shring), a home health company based in Livonia, Michigan.

Despite being excluded from billing Medicare, Pancholi purchased Shring using the names, signatures, and personal identifying information of others to conceal his ownership of the company.

In a two-month period, Pancholi and his co-conspirators billed and were paid nearly $2.8 million by Medicare for services that were never provided, a Department of Justice release said on Wednesday.

Pancholi then transferred these funds through bank accounts belonging to shell corporations and eventually into his accounts in India.

After being indicted, and on the eve of trial, Pancholi, using a pseudonym, wrote false and malicious emails to various federal government agencies alleging a government witness had committed various crimes and should not be allowed to remain in the US in an attempt to keep the witness from testifying.

The jury convicted Pancholi of conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud, two counts of substantive healthcare fraud, two counts of money laundering, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of witness tampering.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on January 10, 2024, and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the conspiracy and witness tampering convictions, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each of the healthcare fraud and money laundering counts.

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.