Baskaran Thangarasan, a licensed physical therapist from Farmington Hills, Mich., has been sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay $2.3 million in restitution for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme, according to a joint news release by the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services.
Mr. Thangarasan pleaded guilty in December for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Mr. Thangarasan admitted that he began working around Sept. 2003 as a contract therapist for co-conspirator Suresh Chand, according to information in the plea documents. Mr. Chand owned and controlled several companies operating in the Detroit area that purported to provide physical and occupational therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries. Mr. Thangarasan admitted that he, the co-conspirator and others created fictitious therapy files appearing to document physical therapy services provided to Medicare beneficiaries, when in fact no such services had been provided.
Mr. Thangarasan admitted that his role in creating the fictitious therapy files was to sign documents and progress notes indicating he had provided physical therapy services to particular Medicare beneficiaries, when in fact he had not. Mr. Thangarasan was paid approximately $50 by co-conspirators per file that he falsified in this manner. Mr. Thangarasan also admitted that in the course of the scheme charged in the indictment, he signed approximately 1,011 fictitious physical therapy files, falsely indicating he had provided physical therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries. He admitted he knew that the files he helped falsify were used to justify fraudulent billings to Medicare.
In addition, Mr. Thangarasan admitted that between Sept. 2003 and May 2006, his co-conspirators submitted claims to the Medicare program totaling approximately $5 million for files he falsified. Medicare actually paid approximately $2.3 million on those claims, according to the release.
Read the release on Baskaran Thangarasan.
Mr. Thangarasan pleaded guilty in December for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Mr. Thangarasan admitted that he began working around Sept. 2003 as a contract therapist for co-conspirator Suresh Chand, according to information in the plea documents. Mr. Chand owned and controlled several companies operating in the Detroit area that purported to provide physical and occupational therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries. Mr. Thangarasan admitted that he, the co-conspirator and others created fictitious therapy files appearing to document physical therapy services provided to Medicare beneficiaries, when in fact no such services had been provided.
Mr. Thangarasan admitted that his role in creating the fictitious therapy files was to sign documents and progress notes indicating he had provided physical therapy services to particular Medicare beneficiaries, when in fact he had not. Mr. Thangarasan was paid approximately $50 by co-conspirators per file that he falsified in this manner. Mr. Thangarasan also admitted that in the course of the scheme charged in the indictment, he signed approximately 1,011 fictitious physical therapy files, falsely indicating he had provided physical therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries. He admitted he knew that the files he helped falsify were used to justify fraudulent billings to Medicare.
In addition, Mr. Thangarasan admitted that between Sept. 2003 and May 2006, his co-conspirators submitted claims to the Medicare program totaling approximately $5 million for files he falsified. Medicare actually paid approximately $2.3 million on those claims, according to the release.
Read the release on Baskaran Thangarasan.