Saratoga Orthopedic Surgeon Gregory Belcher M.D. was sentenced to 12 months and a day in prison for making a false statement related to a health care benefits program. Belcher was a 1988 graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine.
The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Lucy H. Koh, U.S. District Judge, following an eight-week trial in which Belcher and his wife, Dr. Vilasini Ganesh, were convicted.
On December 15, 2017, Belcher, 56, and his wife, Ganesh, 47, both of Saratoga, Calif., were convicted of crimes related to health care fraud charges.
The evidence at trial demonstrated Belcher submitted a false claim in connection with a billing matter related to the physical therapy practice he conducted from the offices of the Campbell Medical Group in Saratoga, Calif.
Evidence also demonstrated Ganesh, Belcher’s wife and office partner, submitted false and fraudulent claims to several health care benefit programs for services that she knew were not properly payable. For example, Ganesh included claims for days when a patient had not been seen by the provider. She also submitted claims for patients who had been seen by another physician provider who no longer was affiliated with her practice.
On July 13, 2017, a federal grand jury indicted the defendants, charging them with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h); multiple counts health care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1347 and 2; and making a false statement relating to health care matters, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1035.
The jury convicted Belcher of one count of health care fraud and convicted Ganesh of five counts of health care fraud and five counts of making false statements. The jury acquitted the defendants of the remaining counts.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Koh sentenced Belcher to a 3-year term of supervised release. Belcher will begin serving the sentence June 6, 2018.
He’ll begin serving his sentence in June. The Medical Board of California fled an Accusation on April 17 seeking to revoke his medical license. No hearing has yet been set on this Accusation.