Nagaindra Srivastav of Tampa, Fla., has been sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay more than $48 million in restitution after he was convicted of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks.
According to the Justice Department, Mr. Srivastav sold fraudulent physicians' orders to co-conspirators who used the orders to obtain more than $48 million in fraudulent payments from Medicare.
Mr. Srivastav used a company he owned, B2B Apps Solutions, to create and operate an internet-based platform called RepsHub that individuals and businesses in the healthcare sector used to buy and sell physician orders for durable medical equipment, such as ankle, back, knee, and leg braces, according to prosecutors.
In addition to selling physician orders, Mr. Srivastav also offered and sold leads, which he obtained through call centers controlled by himself and his co-conspirators, according to court documents.
He bought the physicians' orders that allegedly lacked medical necessity from purported telemedicine companies based in the Philippines and Pakistan. Mr. Srivastav was notified on several occasions that the purported authorizing physician had not spoken with the patient, signed the order or prescribed the braces, according to the Justice Department.
One of Mr. Srivastav's co-conspirators, Bridan Tisdale of Amory, Miss. — who operated two DME companies in Mississippi and Georgia — was sentenced to three years and six months in prison and ordered to pay more than $4.6 million in restitution.