Pennsylvania Brothers, Employee Convicted in Decades-Long Racketeering Scheme Defrauding Medicaid of $32 Million
PHILADELPHIA — Three individuals have been convicted for their roles in a sprawling racketeering conspiracy that included visa fraud, kickback schemes, and health care fraud resulting in over $32 million in losses to Pennsylvania Medicaid, the Justice Department announced Monday.
Following a trial, a jury found brothers Bhaskar and Arun Savani, along with longtime employee Ola Radomiak, guilty of participating in a criminal enterprise they called “the Savani Group.”
According to evidence presented at trial, Bhaskar Savani, a trained dentist, controlled numerous dental practices within the enterprise, while Arun Savani managed finances and real estate holdings. Radomiak served as an executive who facilitated the conspiracy to defraud Medicaid, prosecutors said.
The scheme, which unfolded over approximately a decade, involved filing false H-1B visa applications to unlawfully employ foreign workers, soliciting salary kickbacks from those workers, and fraudulent billing practices that included submitting claims in the names of dentists who did not provide treatment, according to court documents.
After the Savani Group’s Medicaid contracts were terminated, the defendants continued billing the program through nominee-owned dental practices, amassing more than $32 million in fraudulent proceeds, which they laundered through a complex web of financial transactions.
“This significant prosecution exemplifies the commitment of the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners to protect taxpayer-funded programs from fraudsters and corrupt healthcare professionals,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
The brothers were also convicted of obstructing a grand jury investigation, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Treasury, and wire fraud. Bhaskar Savani faced an additional conviction for conspiracy to distribute adulterated and misbranded medical devices.
“Fraud and abuse cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars a year and rob the healthcare system of vital resources,” said U.S. Attorney David Metcalf for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “It’s gratifying to dismantle this crooked enterprise and hold those responsible to account.”
Bhaskar and Arun Savani face statutory maximum penalties of 420 years and 415 years in prison, respectively. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled for July 8 and July 9. Radomiak, convicted of racketeering conspiracy and health care fraud, is scheduled for sentencing on July 14.
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Texas Doctor Sentenced to 8.5 Years in $145 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme
McKINNEY, Texas — An orthopedic surgeon was sentenced Tuesday to 102 months in prison for his role in a $145 million scheme to defraud the Department of Labor by prescribing medically unnecessary compound creams to injured federal workers in exchange for kickbacks, the Justice Department announced.
Dr. Michael Taba, 61, was also ordered to pay over $13 million in restitution following his November 2023 conviction by a federal jury on one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud.
According to court documents and trial evidence, Taba accepted bribes paid by pharmacy owners to prescribe compound creams that were not medically necessary for patients covered by the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. The pharmacies, located in Fort Worth and Arlington, Texas, were owned and operated by Taba’s co-defendants.
Evidence at trial revealed that the compounds were mixed in the back rooms of the pharmacies by untrained teenagers at a cost of approximately $15 per prescription to the pharmacy owners. The pharmacies then billed the DOL-OWCP as much as $16,000 per prescription.
Patients who received the creams testified at trial that the products were ineffective and, in some cases, caused painful, irritating skin rashes.
Between May 2014 and March 2017, the pharmacies billed DOL-OWCP and Blue Cross Blue Shield more than $145 million and were paid more than $90 million for unnecessary prescriptions referred by Taba and other medical providers.
“The Department is committed to protecting victims and combating fraud against the United States wherever it is found,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s sentence serves as a reminder that medical professionals who violate the trust society places in them, their oath, the law, and harm Americans for personal enrichment will be investigated and prosecuted.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General, and IRS Criminal Investigation.
“Dr. Michael Taba accepted bribes and kickbacks for writing thousands of prescriptions for unnecessary compounded medications issued to injured federal workers, putting illegal profits above patients’ safety,” said DOL Inspector General Anthony P. D’Eposito.