Pelham Manor, NY – Manishkumar Patel, a 45-year-old executive from Pelham Manor, has been sentenced to 14 months in federal prison for orchestrating a health care fraud scheme that cost Medicare more than $48 million.
U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield handed down the sentence on May 6 in Manhattan federal court, also ordering Patel to forfeit $6.8 million in illicit gains and repay Medicare. After prison, Patel will serve three years of supervised release, including one year of home confinement with electronic monitoring and 1,000 hours of community service.
Patel pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, wire fraud, and violating the anti-kickback statute.
Between 2019 and 2022, Patel and co-conspirator Nagaindra Srivastav used overseas call centers to collect personal Medicare information from beneficiaries. They then created fake prescriptions for medical equipment, lab tests, and drugs — either using willing doctors or forging signatures — and sold them to providers, pharmacies, and labs. Kickbacks were disguised as marketing payments.
Court records say the scheme generated tens of thousands of fraudulent leads. While $160 million in claims were submitted to Medicare, the government approved nearly $48.2 million.
Patel’s defense team cited his December autism diagnosis and argued he was easily manipulated, claiming he earned only $15 per prescription, totaling $240,000. They asked for probation, not prison. So far, Patel has repaid $20,000 and has cooperated with authorities, providing names of potential fraud targets.
However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mead pushed for a five-year sentence, arguing that Patel was a knowledgeable leader who knowingly defrauded Medicare for personal profit. Patel controlled the call centers and funneled money through his company, Kimberly Hathaway Corp., and other shell entities. Investigators found $370,000 in cash at his $1.2 million home and said he had not proven that the bulk of the funds went to a co-conspirator abroad.
Judge Schofield set Patel’s surrender date for August 1.
