Crime & Safety

Darien Doctor Enters Plea In Federal Money Laundering Case

The defendant was apprehended this summer while allegedly trying to flee to Canada.

DARIEN, CT — A 49-year-old Darien resident and physician pleaded guilty in federal court in New Haven Monday to health care fraud and money laundering offenses, according to United States Attorney John H. Durham.

Dr. Ramil Mansourov has been in federal custody since July when he was apprehended after fleeing to Canada. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December, at which time he faces up to 30 years in prison, a $10 million fine and an order of restitution.

According to prosecutors and court documents, Mansourov is a physician who operated out of Family Health Urgent Care, located on Main Street in Norwalk. The medical practice was formerly known as Immediate Health Care, which was owned by Dr. Bharat Patel. In approximately 2012, Mansourov purchased the practice from Patel and renamed it Family Urgent Health Care, and Patel continued to work at the practice.

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From Durham's release:

Between 2014 and November 2016, Mansourov billed Medicaid approximately $4,994,027 for home, office and nursing home visits that never occurred. Mansourov transferred some of the stolen funds to a bank account in Switzerland and then moved more than $1.3 million from the Swiss bank account to at least three of his own domestic bank accounts. The investigation revealed that Mansourov used the stolen funds for both personal and business purposes.
Mansourov also has agreed to forfeit $50,000, and surrender his federal controlled substances registration to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
On June 25, 2018, Patel pleaded guilty to narcotics distribution and health care fraud offenses. Patel admitted that he wrote hundreds of medically unnecessary prescriptions for oxycodone and hydrocodone, and received $158,523.95 from federal health programs as a result of this and related criminal conduct. Patel has been detained since his arrest on July 12, 2017.

This investigation has been conducted by the DEA’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad and the Norwalk Police Department, with the critical assistance of the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General. The DEA Tactical Diversion Squad includes officers from the Bristol, Hamden, Milford, Monroe, New Haven, Shelton, Wallingford and Wilton Police Departments.

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The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.

Image via Shutterstock

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