A pair of doctors operating a Norwalk urgent care center are facing federal charges of running a “pill mill ” operation, writing prescriptions beyond legitimate medical practice, as well as health care fraud and money laundering.
Bharat Patel and Ramil Mansourov worked at Family Health Urgent Care at 235 Main St. in Norwalk. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency began receiving information in 2013 that the doctors were running a pill mill that provided prescriptions for narcotics, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, to patients that were either addicted to opioids or had been arrested for distributing or possessing controlled substances. Patel is also accused of writing prescriptions to patients and nonpatients in exchange for cash, while both doctors allegedly wrote post-dated prescriptions for individuals that matched future dates when the doctors would be out of the country.
The complaint further charges Mansourov with defrauding the state”™s Medicaid program of more than $4 million by billing for home visits, nursing home visits and office visits that he never made, including visits that he claimed took place on dates when he was not in the state. The doctors were also found to have billed Medicaid for the same patient on the same day at two different locations. Patel was found to have used these fraudulently obtained funds to help finance a house purchase, while Mansourov moved some of his funds to a Swiss bank account.
The doctors face potential maximum prison terms of 20 years for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute narcotics, 10 years for health care fraud and 10 years for conspiracy to commit money laundering.
