5 Months Prison, $30K Fine for Doc’s Role in Kickback Scheme

A Florham Park man and board-certified physician practicing medicine in Orange was sentenced Friday to five months in prison, another five months of home confinement and $30,000 in fines for his role in a patient referral kickback scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.

Mahesh Patel, 64, who pleaded guilty to soliciting and receiving $6,600 in illegal kickbacks for patient referrals was in violation of the federal health care anti-kickback statute, Fishman said.

Patel will also have to pay back the $6,600 and be under supervised release for two years after his prison term, Fishman said.

The doctor operated his own medical practice in Orange, and from 2010 to November 2011 he took cash payments from Orange MRI in exchange for MRI scans he referred to the diagnostic testing facility, Fishman said.

Patel admitted to receiving cash on a per-patient basis for nearly two years, including a $375 kickback for a prior referral of Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Patel was one of 17 defendants in the case, of which 15 doctors were involved and have been found guilty.