Troy doctor charged in Medicare fraud scheme

TROY — A Troy doctor has been charged following a criminal complaint for allegedly taking part in a health care fraud scheme.

Dr. Sangita Patel, a 50-year-old Troy resident, was charged following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly submitting false claims to Medicare for telehealth services that were never rendered.

According to the complaint, Patel operated the Advance Home Physicians Center in Troy, and cellphone evidence illustrated that an individual located in Tuscola County, Michigan, would call Medicare beneficiaries on Patel’s behalf. After these phone calls, Patel subsequently submitted claims as if she had provided telehealth visits to the Medicare beneficiaries the individual had called, according to investigators.

An investigation into the matter was led by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

“Doctors, and other medical providers, who submit claims to Medicare for services that were not rendered threaten the integrity of our federal healthcare programs and undermine the trust that we place in our health care practitioners,” Mario Pinto, the special agent in charge of the Chicago region of the HHS-OIG, said in a press release. “Our agency, working in conjunction with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue those who threaten federal healthcare programs.”

“Physicians and other medical professionals who fraudulently bill our federal health care programs are stealing from taxpayers and robbing vulnerable patients of necessary medical care,” James A. Tarasca, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, added in the same press release. “The FBI remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to expose those who cheat our government health care programs and hold them to account.”

Patel is being represented by the Federal Community Defenders. Michael Carter, the designated spokesperson for that office, did not respond to requests for comment prior to press time.