By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — A local doctor was busted for allegedly orchestrating a $700,000 Medicaid fraud scam in which he allegedly prescribed HIV medication to patients who did not have the deadly virus, authorities said.
The pills ended up for sale on the black market, prosecutors said.
Dr. Suresh Hemrajani, 57, was hit with several counts of grand larceny, health care fraud and falsifying business records on Friday. Prosecutors said 150 people were involved in the scam and there may be additional arrests.
Seventeen middlemen and fake "patients" have already beem sentenced to probation and prison time, according to prosecutors.
Hemrajani allegedly wrote the bogus prescriptions and also filed claims for patients he only met for initial consultations, prosecutors said.
"The patients paid for their medications with Medicaid and received cash through a middleman who would then sell the medication on the black market," said Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Carol Berkman, interpreting documents filed by prosecutors at his arraignment on Friday.
He also allegedly "charged Medicaid for the indital patients' visit and the subsequent paitents' visit which never actually took place," the statement continued.
The judge also commented on the apparent delay in arresting the doctor who allegedly headed the fraud, as they had arrested more than two dozen "poor people who were unable to resist the lure of a few easy bucks."
The doctor, whose private practice was at 4580 Broadway, near Nagle Ave., pleaded not guilty and was released on $200,000 bail at Friday's appearance. His wife posted his White Plains home as collateral.
"The defendant victimized not only the neediest members of our community but also all New York taxpayers," District Attorney Cy Vance said in a written statement.
The scam was uncovered after multiple patients were told they were HIV-negative after being tested again when attempting to obtain prescriptions from a hospital, according to the DA.
