Press Release
Anchorage Psychiatrist Enters Guilty Plea for Fraudulently Billing Medicaid Approximately $1.2 Million Dollars and Tampering with Physical Evidence
December 1, 2014
The Alaska Department of Law, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) announced today that Anchorage area psychiatrist Dr. Shubhranjan Ghosh, 39, entered a plea of guilty to fraudulently billing Medicaid and to tampering with physical evidence. According to the charges, Dr. Ghosh fraudulently billed Medicaid over $1 million for services that were never performed. Dr. Ghosh was also charged with evidence tampering for creating false medical records in an attempt to cover up his fraudulent Medicaid billing.
Dr. Ghosh is the founder of Ghosh Psychiatric Services. Dr. Ghosh was arrested on April 15, 2014 and indicted on July 24 by a grand jury on 18 felony counts, including fraudulently billing Medicaid, committing a scheme to defraud Medicaid, and tampering with physical evidence in an ongoing investigation. Dr. Ghosh was also indicted on 15 counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance.
Dr. Ghosh entered a plea of guilty to the modified charge of knowingly preparing or assisting another person to prepare a false Medicaid claim, which is a class B felony offense. Dr. Ghosh also entered a plea of guilty to tampering with physical evidence, a class C felony offense. Dr. Ghosh stipulated that the court shall find the aggravator at sentencing that his conduct was designed to obtain a substantial pecuniary gain and that the risk of prosecution and punishment was low, which allows the court to impose a sentence above the normal maximum of three years. The court may impose a period of incarceration from one to three-and-a-half years and a fine of up to $50,000. Dr. Ghosh will also be ordered to repay Medicaid for all money received. Dr. Ghosh will be barred from billing Medicaid based upon this conviction.
The Anchorage Superior Court accepted Dr. Ghsoh’s plea of guilty and set sentencing for April 17, 2015 at 9:00 a.m.
The case was initiated by citizen complaint and jointly investigated by the Alaska Department of Law, Alaska State Troopers, Anchorage Police Department, Department of Health and Social Services, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations. This case is a great example of how state and federal collaboration can work to combat fraud and abuse in the Medicaid system.
The Alaska MFCU is part of the Attorney General’s Office. The MFCU is responsible for investigating and prosecuting Medicaid fraud and abuse, neglect or financial exploitations of patients in any facility that accepts Medicaid funds. The information filed in the Ghosh complaint can be found on the MFCU website.
CONTACT: Assistant Attorney General Andrew Peterson at 907-269-6292 for more information about the Ghosh case or other cases handled by the Alaska MFCU.
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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.