Dr. Paresh Patel is from Franklin Township, New Jersey.
AB Wire
An Indian American internal medicine physician practicing in Jamesburg, New Jersey, Dr. Paresh Patel, was sentenced on Wednesday to 12 months in prison for accepting bribes in exchange for patient referrals to a mobile diagnostic company.
Patel, 55, of Franklin Township previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper to an information charging him with violating the Anti-Kickback Statute. Judge Cooper imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: from September 2009 through December 2013, Patel accepted more than $174,000 in bribes for referring his patients to the Morris County-based mobile diagnostic testing company, Biosound Medical Services (referenced in the Information as “Company 1”), operated by Nita K. Patel and Kirtish N. Patel (no relation to Paresh Patel).
According to the Justice Department, as part of the bribes, Biosound Medical Services paid Paresh Patel’s property tax obligations and home renovation expenses.
In addition to the prison term, Paresh Patel was also ordered to pay a $6,000 fine. He has also forfeited more than $174,000 he received as part of the bribery scheme.
Nita K. Patel and Kirtish N. Patel, pleaded guilty on Nov. 17, 2015 to health care fraud for forging physician signatures on diagnostic reports that were never reviewed by a specialist physician and were actually authored by Kirtish N. Patel, who did not have a medical license. Both await sentencing.