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Archive for the ‘Jaswinder Rai Chhibber’

Doc Sentenced to 2 1/2 Years for Ordering Unnecessary Tests

July 12, 2012 By: Cal Skinner Category: Jaswinder Rai Chhibber, Joel Hammerman, Medicare, Medicare Fraud, Samuel Cole

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

CHICAGO PHYSICIAN SENTENCED TO 30 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR HEALTH CARE FRAUD INVOLVING UNNECESSARY PATIENT TESTS

CHICAGO — A physician who operated a south side medical clinic, Dr. Jaswinder Rai Chhibber, was sentenced to 2½ years in federal prison for engaging in a health care fraud scheme between 2007 and July 2010, federal law enforcement officials announced today.

Chhibber, who operated the former Cottage Grove Community Medical Clinic, located at 642 East 79th St., Chicago, was convicted following a trial in March of defrauding Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois by submitting false insurance claims for medically unnecessary tests he ordered for patients and using false diagnosis codes to justify those tests.

Chhibber, 50, of Schaumburg, was ordered to begin serving his 30-month prison term on Sept. 5 by U.S. District Judge Suzanne Conlon, who imposed the sentence, along with a $15,000 fine, late yesterday in Federal Court.

Chhibber was found guilty of five counts of healthcare fraud and four counts of making false statements involving a health care benefits program after a week-long trial. The jury found him not guilty of seven additional counts.

The evidence at trial showed that Chhibber

  • ordered medically unnecessary tests,
  • falsified patients’ medical records, and
  • used false diagnosis codes on insurance claim forms in various fashions

for at least five patients who testified at trial, including two undercover federal agents who posed as patients.

Evidence also showed that Chhibber administered

  • echocardiograms,
  • electrocardiograms,
  • nerve conduction studies,
  • carotid doppler exams, and
  • abdominal ultrasounds

for an unusually high percentage of his patients.

The sentence was announced by Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, together with Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of Federal Bureau of Investigation. The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Office of Inspector General also participated in the investigation.

The investigation was conducted by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which expanded to Chicago in 2011, and is part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative between the Justice Department and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce anti-fraud laws around the country.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joel Hammerman and Samuel B. Cole.

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Doctor Convicted of Excessive Medical Testing

March 14, 2012 By: Cal Skinner Category: Jaswinder Rai Chhibber, Joel Hammerman, Medicare, Medicare Fraud, Samuel Cole

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

PHYSICIAN WHO OPERATED SOUTH SIDE MEDICAL CLINIC CONVICTED OF HEALTH CARE FRAUD INVOLVING UNNECESSARY PATIENT TESTS

CHICAGO — A federal jury yesterday convicted Dr. Jaswinder Rai Chhibber, a physician who operated a south side medical clinic, of engaging in a health care fraud scheme between 2007 and July 2010, federal law enforcement officials announced today.

Chhibber, who operated the former Cottage Grove Community Medical Clinic, located at 642 East 79th St., Chicago, was convicted of defrauding Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois by submitting false insurance claims for medically unnecessary tests and using false diagnosis codes to justify the tests he had ordered.

Chhibber, 43, of Schaumburg, was found guilty of five counts of healthcare fraud and four counts of making false statements involving a health care benefits program after less than two full days of deliberations following a week-long trial in U.S. District Court. The jury found him not guilty of seven additional counts.

Chhibber remains free on bond pending sentencing, which U.S. District Judge Suzanne Conlon scheduled for May 10. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count of health care fraud, and five years in prison on each false statements count, and a $250,000 fine on each count.

The evidence at trial showed that Chhibber

  • ordered medically unnecessary tests,
  • falsified patients’ medical records, and
  • used false diagnosis codes on insurance claim forms in various fashions

for at least five patients who testified at trial, including two undercover federal agents who posed as patients.

Evidence also showed that Chhibber administered

  • echocardiograms,
  • electrocardiograms,
  • nerve conduction studies, and
  • carotid doppler and
  • abdominal ultrasounds

for an unusually high percentage of his Medicare and Blue Cross patients.

Partrick Fitzgerald

The conviction was announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, together with Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of Federal Bureau of Investigation. The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Office of Inspector General also participated in the investigation.

The investigation was conducted by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which expanded to Chicago in 2011, and is part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative between the Justice Department and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce anti-fraud laws around the country.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joel Hammerman and Samuel B. Cole.

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