A physician from suburban Chicago has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for committing health care fraud. Mona Ghosh, who owned Progressive Women’s Healthcare, S.C. in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, was found guilty of billing Medicaid and private insurers for services that were either unnecessary or never performed.
Ghosh’s fraudulent activities spanned from 2018 to 2022 and involved submitting false claims for procedures such as endometrial ablations, biopsies, ultrasounds, vaccinations, laboratory blood tests, and sexually transmitted disease tests. Some procedures were conducted without patient consent. Additionally, Ghosh exaggerated the complexity of visits to obtain higher reimbursements and falsified patient records to support her claims.
Last year, Ghosh pleaded guilty to two counts of health care fraud. U.S. District Judge Franklin U. Valderrama handed down the sentence on Monday and ordered her to pay approximately $1.5 million in restitution.
The announcement was made by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Douglas S. DePodesta from the FBI’s Chicago Field Office; Mario Pinto from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Jason Sargenski from the Department of Defense; and Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General.
U.S. Attorney Boutros stated: “When physicians submit fraudulent claims to federal health care programs, they divert taxpayer-funded resources away from those who truly need them.” He emphasized that Ghosh’s actions endangered patients’ health by performing unnecessary procedures.
FBI Special Agent-in-Charge DePodesta commented on the betrayal of trust towards patients: “Dr. Ghosh spent years traumatizing patients… The depraved conduct uncovered in this case represents an extreme betrayal.”
HHS-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Pinto highlighted that professionals prioritizing profits over patient care do so at their expense: “The sentence imposed reflects the severity of the defendant’s crimes.”
DCIS Special Agent-in-Charge Sargenski assured service members about their medical care’s legitimacy: “Today’s outcome should reassure the public… remains steadfast in our pursuit.”
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kavitha Babu and Hayley Altabef represented the government in this case.
