Owner of marketing company admits to role in $11.5M fraud scheme
- Man pleads guilty to accepting kickbacks, defrauding government
- Scheme stole more than $11.5 million from Medicare
- Sentencing scheduled for March 2024
The Department of Justice seal is seen on a lectern ahead of a press conference announcing efforts against computer hacking and extortion at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC on November 28, 2018. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
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(NewsNation) — The owner of an Indian marketing company admitted to his role in a health care fraud scheme that netted him and associates more than $11.5 million in illegal kickbacks.
Chintan Anjaria, of India, pleaded guilty in a Newark, New Jersey federal court to charges of conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback law and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
According to court documents, Anjaria accepted the illegal payments from February 2017 to May 2022, when he and other conspirators would pressure Medicare beneficiaries into obtaining orthotic braces and cancer genetic tests.
Anjaria and his company paid kickbacks to telemedicine companies to obtain doctors’ orders for the braces and tests, and would then steer the orders to orthotic suppliers and laboratories, according to the U.S. attorney. The suppliers and labs would then submit claims for reimbursement with Medicare and send a portion to Anjaria as payment for the doctor’s orders.
The scheme defrauded the government out of more than $11.5 million.
Anjaria faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison for the health care fraud charge and five years for the kickback charge. Sentencing is scheduled for March 12.