 (Tribune illustration / February 28, 2012) |
A federal jury convicted a physician who operated a Chatham neighborhood medical clinic on the South Side of engaging in a health care fraud scheme between 2007 and July 2010, the U.S. Attorney’s office said today.
Dr. Jaswinder Rai Chhibber, who operated the former Cottage Grove Community Medical Clinic, 642 East 79th St., was convicted Tuesday of defrauding Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois by submitting false insurance claims for medically unnecessary tests and using false diagnosis codes to justify the tests he had ordered, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Chhibber, 43, of Schaumburg, was found guilty of five counts of health care fraud and four counts of making false statements involving a health care benefits program after less than two full days of deliberations following a week-long trial, the release said. The jury found him not guilty of seven additional counts.
Chhibber remains free on bond pending sentencing, which is set for May 10.
He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count of health care fraud, and five years in prison on each false statements count, and a $250,000 fine on each count, the release said.
Chhibber ordered medically unnecessary tests, falsified patients’ medical records, and used false diagnosis codes on insurance claim forms in various fashions for at least five patients who testified at trial, including two undercover federal agents who posed as patients, according to the release.
Dr. Jaswinder Rai Chhibber, who operated the former Cottage Grove Community Medical Clinic, 642 East 79th St., was convicted Tuesday of defrauding Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois by submitting false insurance claims for medically unnecessary tests and using false diagnosis codes to justify the tests he had ordered, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Chhibber, 43, of Schaumburg, was found guilty of five counts of health care fraud and four counts of making false statements involving a health care benefits program after less than two full days of deliberations following a week-long trial, the release said. The jury found him not guilty of seven additional counts.
Chhibber remains free on bond pending sentencing, which is set for May 10.
He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count of health care fraud, and five years in prison on each false statements count, and a $250,000 fine on each count, the release said.
Chhibber ordered medically unnecessary tests, falsified patients’ medical records, and used false diagnosis codes on insurance claim forms in various fashions for at least five patients who testified at trial, including two undercover federal agents who posed as patients, according to the release.
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