GRAND RAPIDS — A physical therapist who provided services in Lansing and who admitted committing insurance fraud has been sentenced to 13 months in prison and has paid $2.25 million in damages, officials said.
In May, Chyawan Bansil, 61, of Farmington Hills, pleaded guilty in federal court to health care fraud and money laundering charges, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Grand Rapids. He was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court.
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Prosecutors said Bansil committed the fraud between 2007 and January of this year. They said he defrauded Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan out of more than $1 million by billing for nerve conduction studies and needle electromyography tests that he did not perform or “provided in such a cursory manner as to not be of any clinical value,” court documents say.
Undercover Lansing police officers investigating prescription drug diversion received suspicious services from Bansil at a doctor’s office in Lansing, officials said.
Federal investigators then examined medical practices connected to Bansil as well as his financial records, officials said, and confirmed that he was billing for services he did not perform. It was also determined he was illegally laundering the proceeds of his fraud scheme in order to avoid taxes.
As part of his plea agreement, Bansil forfeited over $500,000 in assets and paid an additional $2.25 million dollars in damages. He also paid nearly $250,000 in back taxes that were uncovered by the IRS during the investigation.
The case resulted from a joint investigation conducted by Lansing police, the Internal Revenue Service, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.
