A Chicago based Indian-American physician whose medical license was suspended has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for health care fraud and illegally prescribing controlled substance medications.
Sathish Narayanappa Babu, who owned Anik Life Sciences Medical Corp., pleaded guilty in September 2014 to illegally prescribing oxycodone and other controlled substances, and fraudulently billing Medicare about $500,000.
Mr Babu, 48, who operated the home-visiting physician's office, in Darien and, previously, in Arlington Heights also fraudulently collected about $216,000 for services he did not provide, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation release. <div id='ndtvrelcontent'></div
US District Court Judge John J. Tharp also imposed a term of three years of supervised release and a restitution amount of $221,012.
Also forfeited were three automobiles - a 2013 BMW, a 2001 BMW, and a 2010 Lexus. Mr Babu was ordered to begin serving his sentence May 13, 2015.
"The defendant was stealing money from those in need... putting many in need at risk."
In addition, Mr Babu admitted that between November 2012 and December 2013, he issued multiple prescriptions for controlled substances to a patient, who was actually an undercover agent, despite never having seen or examined the patient.
During the same period, Mr Babu submitted false claims to Medicare for services provided to the patient that were not rendered by Mr Babu or another licensed medical professional.
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