Florham Park Doc Admits Receiving $6K in Kickbacks for Referrals

A Morris County doctor pleaded guilty to taking illegal cash kickbacks for making referrals to a diagnostic testing lab in Orange, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced Tuesday.

Mahesh Patel, 64, of Florham Park, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi in Newark to charges of soliciting and receiving more than $6,000 in illegal cash kickbacks for patient referrals in violation of the federal health care anti-kickback statute.

Patel is the 15th person to be convicted in connection with the government’s ongoing investigation of illegal payments made by Orange Community MRI, a diagnostic testing facility, Fishman said. 

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, from 2010 through November 2011, Patel, who operated his own medical practice on Orange, agreed to take cash payments from Orange MRI in exchange for MRI scans he referred to the facility. Patel admitted to receiving cash on a per-patient basis for nearly two years, and that on one of the occasions on which he received cash, Oct. 13, 2011, he received $375 in exchange for his prior referral of Medicare and Medicaid patients. 

The anti-kickback charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss caused by the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for April 8, 2014.