A Florida business owner pleaded guilty for his role in a scheme to sell physicians' orders to his co-conspirators, who then used them to obtain at least $25 million in fraudulent Medicare payments.
Nagaindra Srivastav, 58, of Tampa, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and kickback charges, the Justice Department said in an Oct. 21 news release. Mr. Srivastav owned B2B Apps Solutions, which individuals and businesses in the healthcare industry used to purchase and sell durable medical equipment.
The Justice Department said that, through the company, Mr. Srivastav paid and received kickbacks for the referral of federal healthcare business. He created a website, RepsHub, where durable medical equipment companies and others uploaded potential patient information, which were generally obtained through telemarketing campaigns that targeted beneficiaries for whom DME products could be billed.
Mr. Srivastav purchased the physicians' orders that he sold to his customers from purported telemedicine companies based in the Philippines and Pakistan, according to the release. The orders lacked medical necessity, and he was notified on several occasions that the authorizing physician had not spoken to the patient, signed the order or prescribed the medical equipment.
Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 19 2023.