The Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States has arrested an Indian-American doctor couple for allegedly performing unnecessary medical tests and procedures on patients to receive payments from insurance companies, the cleveland.com news website reported.
Both Dr Ashis K Rakhit, 65, and his wife Dr Jayati Gupta Rakhit, 56, specialise in cardiovascular diseases and internal medicine. A grand jury – a legal body that determines whether charges should be brought against a suspect – indicted the couple on January 17, but the decision was sealed pending their arrests. A district judge let them go on Wednesday afternoon after they surrendered their passports and put up their house with $1.5 million (Rs 9.52 crore) in equity.
The two are accused of reporting false symptoms in patients’ records so that they could perform unnecessary tests such as nuclear stress tests, cardiac catheterisations, bone density scans and electrocardiography, a local station of the ABC news channel reported. They are facing one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, six counts of making false statements and three counts of distributing controlled substances.
“This couple violated the trust of their patients, the taxpayers and the community,” US Attorney Justin Herdman said. “They performed unnecessary medical tests and billed for services they did not actually provide in exchange for prescription medications – all of this at a time when our region is inundated in opioid deaths and addiction.”
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