An Indian-origin doctor has been convicted by a US federal jury for his participation in conspiracies to commit health care fraud by giving medically unnecessary prescription medicines to patients and unlawfully distributing controlled substances.Neil K Anand, 48, of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, conspired to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, health plans provided by the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Independence Blue Cross (IBC) and the National Anthem, used for medically unnecessary prescription drugs.
The Justice Department said in a statement that the drugs were distributed to patients by an internal pharmacy owned by Anand. As evidence from the trial shows, conspirators ask patients to take bags of candy they don’t need or want to receive a prescription for controlled substances. Overall, Medicare, OPM, IBC and Anthem paid $2.3 million for candy bags, the statement said.
Anand also plots to distribute oxycodone outside the usual professional practice process and has no legal medical purpose. To facilitate the plot, unlicensed medical interns prepared prescriptions for controlled substances using an Anand prescription prescriptions. As part of the program, Anand prescribed 20,850 oxycodone tablets for nine different patients.
Knowing he was investigating, Anand transferred about $1.2 million to an account in the name of his father and his underage daughter’s interests, covering up the proceeds of fraud. Anand was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud; three counts of health care fraud; one count of money laundering; four counts of illegal currency transactions; and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 19 and faces a statutory maximum sentence of 130 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any judgment after taking into account U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
