In a significant legal development, Yogesh K Pancholi, a 43-year-old Indian-origin man residing in Northville, Michigan, has been sentenced to nine years in a US jail for his involvement in a massive healthcare scam that defrauded Medicare of nearly $2.8 million. Pancholi was convicted on multiple charges, including wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering, identity theft, and witness tampering.
The court heard that Pancholi was the owner and operator of Shring Home Care Inc, a home health company in Livonia, Michigan. Despite being banned from billing Medicare, Pancholi devised a fraudulent scheme by using the personal information of others to conceal his ownership of the company.
Under the scheme, Pancholi and his accomplices submitted false claims to Medicare for home health services that were never provided. Within a span of two months, they received almost $2.8 million in payments. Pancholi then laundered the ill-gotten gains through various shell companies, ultimately transferring the money to his bank accounts in India.
In an attempt to obstruct the investigation, Pancholi sent anonymous emails to federal agencies, falsely accusing a government witness of crimes and demanding the witness’s deportation. The jury found him guilty of all charges in September 2023, following a trial in the Eastern District of Michigan.
The FBI Detroit Field Office and the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) conducted the investigation into Pancholi’s case. This case was part of the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, a collaborative initiative by the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and various federal agencies aimed at combatting healthcare fraud.
The program, launched in March 2007, comprises nine strike forces across 27 federal districts. It has successfully charged over 5,400 defendants who collectively billed more than $27 billion to federal healthcare programs and private insurers. Pancholi’s sentencing underscores the commitment to prosecuting individuals involved in healthcare fraud and upholding the integrity of healthcare systems.
Sources By Agencies
