Las Vegas Physician Dr. Mahesh Kuthuru Arrested
Las Vegas based Indian American Physician Mahesh Kuthuru, M.D., age 43, is indicted by a federal grand jury in Syracuse. Kuthuru owned and operated Upstate Pain Management, which had two medical offices in Fulton and Utica, New York.
Also indicted is Bonnie Meislin, an employee of Upstate Pain Management. The indictment charges Kuthuru and Meislin with engaging in a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting claims for reimbursement that falsely represented that Dr. Kuthuru had performed medical services when in fact he had not.
According to the indictment, Kuthuru purchased a medical practice in Las Vegas, Nevada, known as Desert Pain Management in November 2008. In July 2009 Kuthuru sold his home in Baldwinsville, NY and purchased a home in Las Vegas. By January 2010 through at least September 2011, Kuthuru was spending the majority of his time at his Las Vegas medical practice, coming back to the Utica and Fulton offices to treat patients only a sporadic basis.
The indictment further charges that from January 2010 through September 2011 there were substantial periods of time when there were no licensed medical personnel whatsoever in the Utica and Fulton offices and that patients there were seen only by unlicensed staff members who had received no formal medical training.
The indictment further charges Kuthuru with unlawful distribution of Schedule II controlled substances including Oxycodone, Oxycotin, Methadone and Morphine Sulphate.
Dr. Kuthuru was arrested in Las Vegas on Friday, February 28th 2014. He is scheduled to appear for arraignment before United States Magistrate Judge Therese Wiley Dancks in Syracuse on March 12, 2014 at 2:00 pm.
Each of the thirty health fraud counts carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. Each of the fifteen counts of drug distribution carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment with a fine of $1,000,000.
The indictment merely sets forth an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until the charges are proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
On other note, vegasdesi.com reported earlier that Dr. Kuthuru filed personal bankruptcy in March of 2012 where Dr. Kuthure declared total assets of $329,503 against the liabilities of over $1 million.