Cardiologist Sentenced for Defrauding Health Insurance Companies

The owner and sole medical provider of a New Jersey medical practice was sentenced to 35 months in prison for orchestrating a health-care fraud scheme causing over $1.9 million in insurance reimbursements for false claims, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

According to the DOJ, Dr. Fazal Panezai for years submitted false claims to at least six health insurance benefit programs for office visits that either never occurred or did not take place for the length of time that he claimed.

For example, Panezai submitted claims for office visits lasting approximately 1,675 minutes—approximately 27.9 hours—for one day’s worth of office ...