Worked for Babubhai Patel, who’s in jail.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: An Indian American pharmacist in Michigan was convicted for his role in a scheme involving healthcare fraud and the illegal distribution of controlled substances.
Mukesh Khunt, 34, of Toronto, Michigan, was convicted along with Dr. Carl Fowler, 61, and Michael Thoran, also from Michigan. They were all involved in a scheme orchestrated by another Indian American, Detroit-based pharmacist Babubhai Patel, who was sentenced last year to a 17-year jail term that he is currently serving.
According to court documents, Patel would pay kickbacks, in the form of cash and other valuables, to physicians who would agree to write prescriptions for expensive medications that their patients may not have necessarily needed. Patel Pharmacies, which was owned and operated by Patel, would then bill Medicare,
Medicaid, or the patient’s private insurance company for reimbursement, essentially turning an illicit profit from the fraudulent prescriptions. This scheme transpired from January 2006 through August 2011.
Khunt was an employee of Patel Pharmacies, and was responsible for billing the various insurance companies for the medication that was never actually given to the patients. Additionally, Khunt was also charged (and convicted) with filling prescriptions for controlled substances such as Vicodin, and giving them to people who had neither the medical conditions nor prescriptions to receive them.
For his indiscretions, Khunt was convicted on seven criminal counts: conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, two counts health care fraud and two counts of controlled substances distribution. Khunt was charged with an additional count – conspiracy to pay or receive health care kickbacks – but the jury was unable to reach a consensus on this charge.
Khunt’s conviction adds to the growing list of desis being charged and found guilty of healthcare fraud and other related crimes. In sentencing Babubhai Patel last year, Lamont Pugh – Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) – called such actions “deplorable†and vowed “the OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to combat prescription drug fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid programs and seek to ensure the safety of program beneficiaries and taxpayer dollars.â€
A total of 39 people were involved with the entire scheme, with one still being a fugitive from the law. Khunt pleaded guilty to his charges, and now awaits his sentencing phase, which will occur in the coming weeks.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com