New York medical biller charged with $1 million fraud scheme

Attorney General Letitia James announced the arrest and arraignment of 61-year-old Amrish Patel of Monroe Township, New Jersey on Thursday.

Patel, a medical billing agent, is accused of stealing over $1 million intended for doctors treating injured workers under New York State's Workers' Compensation Law.

Between January 2012 and January 2019, Patel, through his companies Medlink Services, Inc. and Medlink Partners, LLC, allegedly carried out a scheme where he submitted falsified claim forms to the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF).

Instead of the payments being issued to the doctors, as per the norm, they were allegedly redirected to his companies. Over the course of nearly seven years, Patel supposedly amassed at least $1.1 million through this fraudulent practice.

"Doctors and health care professionals provide crucial care to our communities, and they rely on accurate and ethical billing to sustain these services and ensure our wellbeing," said Attorney General James. "When money is illegally diverted away from doctors and providers, all New Yorkers suffer as a result. Fraud of any kind will never go unchecked in our state, and my office will continue to use every measure to hold accountable those who seek to cheat New Yorkers for personal gain."

NYS Insurance Fund Executive Director and CEO Gaurav Vasisht and NYS Inspector General Lucy Lang echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the damaging impact of such fraud on the trust and efficacy of the workers' compensation system.

Patel and his companies now face 27 felony counts, including charges of Insurance Fraud, Grand Larceny, Scheme to Defraud, Falsifying Business Records, and Workers' Compensation Fraud. Following his arraignment before Judge Holly Trexler in Albany City Court, Patel was released on a $100,000 bond with electronic monitoring.