Sangita Patel, MD, has been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly defrauding Medicare $448,000, MLive reported Feb. 20.
Dr. Patel is accused of submitting $1 million in false Medicare claims for telehealth care she did not provide. She allegedly received $448,000 for these claims.
Dr. Patel allegedly had an individual, who is not named in the complaint or a licensed medical assistant, performing the telehealth visits with Medicare beneficiaries on her behalf.
From July 2020 to June 2022, 76 percent of Dr. Patel's Medicare claims were for telehealth visits and were nine times the payments for the previous two-year period, according to the complaint obtained by the publication.
The complaint also states that Dr. Patel prescribed schedule II controlled substances for 90 percent of her patients allegedly without meeting with them.
The FBI and HHS began investigating Dr. Patel in 2021 after receiving a tip that she allegedly was accepting cash payments for prescription drugs.
Dr. Patel could face a 10-year felony sentence if found guilty. She is currently out on bond and will reappear in court March 1, the report said.