Livingston Doctor Sentenced for Accepting Kickbacks

A Livingston doctor was sentenced Tuesday to three months in jail, three months of home confinement and a $30,000 fine for his role in a cash-for-patients scheme at a diagnostic facility in Orange, N.J.,  U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.

Doctor Dinesh Patel, 58, who was sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge Claire C. Cecchi, was arrested in December 2011 and charged with one count of violating the federal health-care program anti-kickback statute.  

He was one of 13 doctors arrested that day, Fishman said, and accused of accepting cash kickback payments from Orange Community MRI, a diagnostic facility, in exchange for his referral of Medicare and Medicaid patients. 

Each of the defendants was recorded taking envelopes of cash in exchange for patient referrals, Fishman said.

Patel was the fifth doctor to plead guilty in connection to the scheme. The five defendants accepted nearly $150,000 in illegal kickbacks from Orange MRI, Fishman said.

Patel received two payments from a cooperating government witness during the course of the investigation, officials said.

On Nov. 4, 2011, Patel accepted $500 in cash for his September 2011 referrals to Orange MRI. He accepted another $600 in cash on Nov. 17, 2011, for his October 2011 referrals to Orange MRI.

He faced a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000. As part of his guilty plea, Patel was ordered to pay back $7,600 he received in kickbacks during 2010 and 2011.