Dr. Milan Chakrabarty and Hemet Endoscopy Center Agreed to Pay $66,000 for Allegedly Violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Law by Failing to Return and Falsely Certifying their Eligibility to Receive CARES Act Provider Relief Funds

On December 14, 2020, Milan S. Chakrabarty, M.D. (Dr. Chakrabarty), and the Hemet Endoscopy Center (Hemet Endoscopy), Hemet, California, entered into a $66,715.47 settlement agreement with OIG. The settlement agreement resolves allegations that Dr. Chakrabarty and Hemet Endoscopy knowingly made, used, or caused to be made a false statement in a document that is required to be submitted in order to directly or indirectly receive or retain funds provided in whole or in part by the Secretary of HHS. Specifically, OIG contends that on April 17, 2020, Hemet Endoscopy, an ambulatory surgery center owned by Dr. Chakrabarty, received a Provider Relief Fund payment pursuant to the CARES Act. On April 27, 2020, an employee of Dr. Chakrabarty’s attested in the HHS Provider Relief Fund Portal that Hemet Endoscopy was eligible to receive this payment because, among other things, it treated patients after January 31, 2020, and its Medicare billing privileges had not been revoked. However, Hemet Endoscopy did not treat patients after January 31, 2020, and HHS had revoked its Medicare billing privileges on November 22, 2019. Hemet Endoscopy subsequently retained its April 17, 2020 Provider Relief Fund payment and a later May 26, 2020 Provider Relief Fund payment despite being ineligible to retain those payments. Senior Counsel Michael Torrisi, assisted by Chief Investigator Amber Mahmood, represented OIG.

Share