A Morris County, N.J., couple and their mobile diagnostic testing companies were ordered to pay more than $7.75 million for knowingly submitting false Medicare claims for thousands of falsified diagnostic test reports and the underlying tests.

According to U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Paul J. Fishman, Nita and Kirtish P., both 53, collected almost $4.4 million from Medicare and insurance companies for diagnostic testing and reports that were never interpreted by a real doctor.

The husband and wife owned Biosound Medical Services and Heart Solutions of Parsippany, said Fishman.

“These were mobile diagnostic companies and approved Medicare providers that provided mobile diagnostic testing, including ultrasounds, echocardiograms and nerve conduction studies used to diagnose heart defects, blood clots, abdominal aortic aneurysms and other serious medical conditions,” Fishman stated.

According to authorities, Biosound technicians would go to doctors’ offices in the region to conduct diagnostic testing. Biosound was supposed to send the tests to a specialist who was supposed to interpret the results.

Biosound was also supposed to provide the analyzed report to the referring physician, said Fishman.

“Biosound was paid millions of dollars by Medicare and other payers for the diagnostic testing, the reading physician’s interpretation of the results and the reports,” he added.

Kirtish admitted he fraudulently interpreted and wrote diagnostic reports from October 2008 through June 2014 “despite having no medical license and knowing that the reports would be used by the referring physicians to make important patient treatment decisions,” said the U.S. Attorney.

He said Nita admitted she helped her husband forge physician signatures on the false Medicare claims to make them appear legitimate. “The [couple] also admitted falsely representing to Medicare that the neurological testing performed by Biosound was being supervised by a licensed neurologist,” said Fishman.

The couple was ordered to pay the United States $5 million in damages and $2.75 million in civil monetary penalties, plus interest for a total of $7,756,865.

Kirtish and Nita previously pleaded guilty on Nov. 17, 2015 in Newark federal court, to charges of healthcare fraud related to this conduct. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 16 before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls.

The false Medicare claims lawsuit was filed under the “whistleblower” provisions of the False Claims Act that allows private citizens with knowledge of fraud to bring civil actions on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery.

The unnamed whistleblower in this case — a former employee of Biosound who brought the misconduct to the government’s attention — will receive 15 to 25 percent of the more than $7.7 million recovered by the government.

Filing a False Medicare Claims Whistleblower Lawsuit

In a whistleblower lawsuit, an individual with knowledge of an organization’s activities provides information about false Medicare claims, fraud, corruption or other illegal activity.

Whistleblowers are often employees, former employees and others who have access to company documents and internal information.

Whether you have evidence of fraud against the government or corruption at a private company, an experienced whistleblower attorney can investigate your claim and advise you on your legal options.