ROCKFORD, ILL.—An Illinois physician was arrested Friday for accepting a kickback for referring Medicare and Medicaid patients to a company for medical treatment, officials said.
Neil Sharma, 34, of Lemont, who is also the medical director of an Illinois healthcare company, is charged with receiving a kickback in the amount of $2,500 in cash from an individual in return for his referring Medicaid and Medicare patients to the individual’s company for medical treatment, federal authorities allege.
In February 2015, officials said Sharma offered this individual who owns the company an additional 500 patients at an increased rate, officials said.
Sharma also offered to refer to the company Medicaid and Medicare patients in two new programs that Sharma’s business planned to implement. In exchange, Sharma wanted a cash payment immediately and additional cash payments every month for an unidentified length of time, officials said.
Sharma planned to conceal the payments, officials said.