A Houston federal jury convicted two men of health care fraud and money laundering Friday after finding they had submitted false medical test claims and patient records in a multi-million-dollar fraudulent scheme.
Harcharan Narang, a 50-year-old internal medicine doctor who owned a clinic in Cypress, and Dayakar Moparty, a 47-year-old former owner of Red Oak Hospital, face up to 10 years in federal prison for each of 17 health care fraud counts.
Narang and Moparty also could receive up to 20 years for each of three money laundering counts.
The two health professionals made millions by giving patients medical tests that were not necessary and billing patients for tests they did not receive, all while charging them at higher-than-usual reimbursement rates, the jury found.
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They also procured higher reimbursement rates from health care companies, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna and Aetna, by making patients appear sicker than they actually were when filling out home health care forms, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Moparty also told his employees to falsely bill patients for medical services at Red Oak Hospital and other entities that they never received.
Through the scheme, Red Oak Hospital received $3.2 million from health care benefit programs, prosecutors said. Moparty then paid Narang about $3 million through various corporate entities owned by Narang.
The jury deliberated for less than four hours, prosecutors said, following a two-week trial in which patients regularly testified that they received the same array of unneeded or unprovided medical tests.
The federal jury also convicted Moparty and Narang of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, the same charge to which a third co-conspirator, 67-year-old Gurnaib Sidhu of Houston, had already pleaded guilty. Sidhu is awaiting sentencing.
A sentencing hearing for Narang and Moparty is set for June 20, before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake. They are permitted to remain on bond with ankle monitors.
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Article source: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/article/Doctor-hospital-owner-convicted-of-health-care-13639562.php