Detroit-Area Clinic Owner Sentenced to 81 Months for Role in Medicare Fraud

Suresh Chand, of Warren, Mich., was sentenced to 81 months in prison and was ordered to pay $9.77 million in restitution, jointly with co-defendants, for his role in an $18 million Medicare fraud scheme, according to a U.S. Justice Department news release.

Mr. Chand pleaded guilty in September 2009 to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and one count of conspiracy to launder money.

Between Jan. 2003 and March 2007, Mr. Chand and others submitted claims to Medicare totaling more than $18 million for physical and occupational therapy services that were never provided. Medicare paid about $8.5 million on the claims, according to the news release.

Mr. Chand admitted that he and associates at two companies he owned — Continental Rehab Services and Pacific Management Services, both in Warren, Mich. — created fictitious therapy files documenting therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries that had not actually been provided. The services were billed to Medicare through sham Medicare providers controlled by Mr. Chand and his co-conspirators, according to the news release. Mr. Chand also admitted to paying kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries in exchange for their Medicare numbers and signatures on false documents.

In March, Solomon Nathaniel, a physical therapist, was sentenced to 62 months in prison and was ordered to pay $2.875 million in restitution for his role in the scheme.


Read the U.S. Justice Department news release on the Suresh Chand sentencing.