Indo American News • Friday, February 11, 2011
Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
Friday, February 11 2011 | Vol. 30, No. 6
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dr. arun sharma sentenced to 15 years, Forfeits $43 million
HOUSTON: An Indian-American doctor has been sentenced to 15 years in prison by a US court for committing health care fraud with his wife and has been ordered to forfeit over $43 million in cash and property gained through the fraud. Arun Sharma, 56, conspired with his wife Kiran Sharma and
Drs. Arun and Kiran Sharma in happier times.
This Week Inside:
committed a health care fraud over a 10-year-period in Texas, United States Attorney Jose Angel Moreno said. Handing down the sentence, US District Judge David Hittner ordered Sharma to forfeit over $43 million, including the couple’s $700,000 home in Texas, numerous parcels of real property, more than $700,000 in cash found during a search of their home, over $800,000 in cash found in two safe deposit boxes and a number of investment accounts funded with the proceeds of their fraudulent scheme. Sharma has been remanded to the custody of the US Marshals Service. Kiran, who also has been convicted of conspiracy and health
otos: Jacob David
care fraud after pleading guilty in April 2010, is scheduled to be sentenced on February 23. She remains in custody at the Federal Detention Centre in Houston pending sentencing. Sharma had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of health care fraud in April last year. During his plea, he admitted that from January 1, 1998 through June 10, 2009, he and his wife had fraudulently billed Medicare, Medicaid and private health care providers for medical procedures that were not performed. The couple owned and operated multiple medical clinics operating under the name Allergy, Asthma, Arthritis Pain Centre in Texas. “Arun Sharma was known as an easy touch for prescribing the ‘pain cocktail’ of hydrocodone, Xanax and Soma. He also prescribed stronger narcotics such as Oxycontin, morphine, methadone and fentanyl patches,” an FBI statement said. The couple also provided patients with injections of steroids for temporary relief from joint and muscle pain. The patients were billed falsely to the insurance companies. The number of patients coming to the couple grew from 50-60 per day in 1998 to more than 100 per day in 2003. By the beginning of 2000, Sharma had certain patients sign blank procedure notes and then used those forms to generate a superbill to bill the insurance companies . Kiran also hired several foreign medical graduates who helped add fictitious patient examination information to the blank forms.
Hats Off to Houston Fundraiser Page 2
daring Heist at Karat 22 Jewelers By JacoB DaviD & Jawahar Malhotra HOUSTON: In a daring midnight heist, thieves broke into Karat 22 Jewelers in Little India on Hillcroft, this past Saturday, February 5 and cleared out millions of dollars worth of jewelry. “This seems to be an extremely professional job. The thieves broke through the roof precisely into the control room that has the security access,” said Aku Patel, a pioneer in the Indian business community and owner of Karat 22. “Within minutes they knocked out the video cameras, switched off the alarm system and disabled the entire security system.” Patel surmised that the thieves used a sophisticated machine to saw off the vault lock, open its door and looted the entire contents. “Thirty years of my jewelry collections are gone. The value is guesstimated to be several millions,” he said in an exclusive interview with Indo American News. While no implications were directly made, Patel thinks that this had to be an inside job, carried out by individual contractors hired by the security company. “The way it was so perfectly done, it is not easy for ordinary outsiders to know where the security system and safe was located. It is only accessed by my family and the individuals who installed the security. The people who did this obviously knew the layout even from the roof. Only the alarm company knows the full details of our vault system. No one else would know where it is safe to put foot on the roof,” he added. The vault door weighs several continued on page
Haiti: One Year Later Page 13
A calm and poised Aku Patel, stands by the broken safe door. He is more resolved to enhance his security system at Karat 22 Jewelers, and open for business right after. Photos: Jacob David
Icy Freeze makes Traffic Vanish
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This past weekend, all community functions were cancelled due to bad weather in the Metroplex. At the 610W and 59S interchange there was not a single car in sight. Photo: Jawahar Malhotra
HOUSTON: In a winter freeze advisory issued for last weekend, with predictions of snow startin from early morning, Houston ended up having clear but dull gray skies and dangerously icy freeways. Most offices, business and schools were closed for the
day. Indo American News Business Manager Jawahar Malhotra caught this fabulous scene of deserted freeways where it looked like traffic had vanished by a magic trick. All desi community functions and events were also cancelled due to the freeze.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, FeBrUAry 11 , 2011 • Online editiOn: A On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O