AG: Jersey City doctor charged with 16 counts of health care fraud

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A Jersey City pain management specialist has been charged with 16 counts of health care fraud after after an undercover investigation by state authorities, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced. 

Dr. Subramaniam Khanthan. Photo courtesy of the state Attorney General's Office.
Dr. Subramaniam Khanthan. Photo courtesy of the state Attorney General’s Office.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

Dr. Subramaniam Khanthan, 76, a pain management specialist who operates Hudson Medical, P.C. in Jersey City, has been charged with 16 counts of second-degree health care claims fraud and one count each of theft by deception and illegal use of runners, Grewal said in a statement.

The indictment was handed up by a state Grand Jury on Monday.

The charges stem from a joint undercover investigation by Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) and the Jersey City Police Department Special Investigations Unit that allegedly caught Khanthan on video engaging in a scheme to provide physical therapy treatments to patients who didn’t need them in order to fraudulently bill insurance providers for the services.

“We allege that Dr. Khanthan used his medical practice in a devious criminal enterprise that treated patients as instruments to satisfy his greed,” Grewal added.

“As our joint investigation with the Jersey City Police Department demonstrates, we will work hand in hand with law enforcement agencies around the state to identify and prosecute doctors who exploit their patients and bring shame to their profession by operating these bastions of corruption.”

According to prosecutors, two undercover officers from MFCU posed as patients being referred to Khanthan’s practice by an illegal runner.

In 16 visits covertly recorded in audio and video form by the officers, Khanthan allegedly instructed the undercover officers to receive physical therapy when it was not necessary, as they had already stated they were not experiencing pain.

Additionally, several of the covertly-recorded visits allegedly showed Khanthan making payments to the runner in exchange for patient referrals.

Khanthan then allegedly billed GEICO Insurance company for providing the unnecessary physical therapy, which included exercise, massage and electric stimulation. Khanthan also allegedly fraudulently billed GEICO for purported treatments he never performed on the undercover officers.

Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000, while third-degree crimes carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000.


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