The owner and president of MDCareNow LLC, a medical practice with offices in Stratford and Milford, pleaded guilty Friday to health care fraud and kickback offenses.
Dr. Ananthakumar Thillainathan, 44, of Stratford, is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport on Jan. 26.
As part of his plea, Thillainathan has agreed to pay $1,674,880 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Thillainathan faces 46 to 57 months of imprisonment and a fine of up to $200,000, the plea agreement shows. However, the judge may depart from these calculated guidelines.
Thillainathan is both a citizen of Sri Lanka and a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. He remains free on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.
According to federal prosecutors, between approximately June 2019 and May 2022, Thillainathan either submitted, or caused to be submitted, approximately $839,724 in fraudulent claims for psychotherapy services that he knew patients did not receive.
The fraudulent claims were submitted to Connecticut Medicaid for reimbursement, according to the government. The claims indicated the practice had provided 60-minute psychotherapy sessions. Instead, the practice’s employees had very brief conversations with patients, had only left a voicemail for patients, or had no contact with patients at all, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Thillainathan also admitted that he paid a third-party “patient recruiting” company for each Connecticut Medicaid patient the company recruited and provided with transportation to MDCareNow for medical services.
Thillainathan paid this company, which the government did not identify, approximately $100 per patient for an initial visit to MDCareNow and approximately $40 per patient for any subsequent visit.
Between approximately November 2019 and May 2021, Thillainathan paid the company for the recruitment of approximately 1,018 Connecticut Medicaid patients. Connecticut Medicaid reimbursed MDCareNow approximately $1,071,328 for services provided to these patients, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Attorney Christine Landis of The Law Offices of Mark Sherman in Stamford, who is representing Thillainathan, did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.
Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.
