Ghosh was planning to leave for India.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: An Indian American physician in Anchorage, Alaska, Dr. Shubhranjan Ghosh, charged with Medicaid fraud totaling more than $1 million, pleaded guilty earlier this month to two charges as part of a plea agreement.
Ghosh entered guilty pleas for single counts of medical assistance fraud and evidence tampering, both felonies, according to the state’s plea agreement, reported the Alaska Dispatch News.
Anchorage Superior Court Judge Michael Spaan accepted Ghosh’s plea, said Andrew Peterson, head of the Office of Special Prosecution’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
The state agreed to dismiss 23 additional charges, including medical assistance fraud, scheming to defraud and falsifying records. Numerous drug charges are also being dismissed, which stemmed from allegations that Ghosh had a prescription drug problem and that he provided opiate prescriptions for friends.
Ghosh also agreed to an aggravator, a facet of his crimes that made them worse. The state argues his conduct was designed to obtain a significant amount of money, and “the risk of prosecution and punishment for the conduct is slight.”
The state stipulated prison term in the plea agreement will see Ghosh serving time between a year to three and a half years.
The prosecution is also requiring Ghosh submit to 10 years of probation. He can apply for early termination of his probation after five years if all restitution has been paid in full, according to the agreement.
Charging documents released in April accused Ghosh of more than $300,000 worth of fraudulent Medicaid practices, but the state was continuing its audit of his practice, Ghosh Psychiatric Services in South Anchorage that primarily treated children with mental health issues. Peterson told the court later that month the fraud totaled more than $1 million.
In all, Ghosh billed Medicaid for roughly $1.2 million. Medicaid did not pay all of those bills, and additional hearings will be held to determine what was paid. Ghosh will then have to pay that amount in restitution.
Ghosh and his office manager Nathaniel Carter worked together to fraudulently bill Medicaid beginning in 2010, said the report. Carter agreed to wear a wire during a conversation with the doctor in which Ghosh admitted to the fraud.
During the 45-minute conversation, Ghosh allegedly told Carter the state would likely find more than $1 million in overpayments, and that if that happened, he would leave the U.S. for his home country of India. He allegedly told Carter that he was tired of lying to his lawyers, but “if we keep our stories straight, we will get past this,” Peterson previously told a judge during a bail hearing.
Peterson also told the court that Ghosh had both written multiple opiate prescriptions for friends, and that Ghosh himself had a prescription drug problem. Both Carter and Ghosh’s ex-girlfriend testified that he would use prescription pills throughout the day at work, Peterson said.