Kuthuru faces 10 years in jail, $250,000 fine.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW YORK: An Indian American physician, who was earlier based in New York, Mahesh Kuthuru, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Syracuse for a scheme to defraud Medicare.
United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian announced the indictment of Kuthuru, 43, and Bonnie Meislin, 42.
Kuthuru owned and operated Upstate Pain Management, which had medical offices at 59 South First Street, Fulton, New York, and 287 Genesee Street, Utica, New York. Meislin was an employee of Upstate Pain Management, according to the Justice Department.
The indictment charges Meislin and Kuthuru with engaging in a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting claims for reimbursement that falsely represented that Kuthuru had performed medical services when in fact he had not.
According to the indictment, Kuthuru purchased a medical practice in Las Vegas, Nevada, known as Desert Pain Management in November 2008. In July 2009, Kuthuru sold his home in Baldwinsville and purchased a home in Las Vegas. By January 2010 through at least September 2011, Kuthuru was spending the majority of his time at his Las Vegas medical practice, coming back to the Utica and Fulton offices to treat patients only a sporadic basis.
The indictment further charges that from January 2010 through September 2011, there were substantial periods of time when there were no licensed medical personnel whatsoever in the Utica and Fulton offices and that patients there were seen only by unlicensed staff members who had received no formal medical training.
The indictment further charges Kuthuru with unlawful distribution of Schedule II controlled substances including oxycodone, Oxycotin, methadone, and morphine sulphate.
Each of the 30 health fraud counts carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. Each of the 15 counts of drug distribution carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment with a fine of $1,000,000.