Vilasini Ganesh M.D. a Saratoga family practitioner was just sentenced to 63 months in prison for health care fraud and making false statements related to a health care benefits program.

Ganesh, and her husband orthopedic surgeon Gregory Belcher M.D., were convicted of the charges on December 15, 2017, after an eight-week trial.

The evidence at trial demonstrated Ganesh submitted a series of false medical claims related to the family medical practice she owned, Campbell Medical Group in Saratoga.

For example, Ganesh submitted claims for days when a patient had not been seen by the provider and claims for patients who had been seen by a physician provider who no longer was affiliated with her practice.

Additionally, Ganesh billed insurers with claims that certain patients were seen twelve to fifteen times in a single month.

On July 13, 2017, a federal grand jury indicted Ganesh and Belcher, charging them with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, multiple counts health care fraud, and making a false statement relating to health care matters.

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 defendants of the remaining counts.

During Ganesh’s sentencing hearing, Judge Koh stated that Ganesh obstructed justice by misrepresenting her understanding of the legal system, the amount of money she was paid by insurers, and whether she understood that it was improper to “upcharge” when submitting claims to insurers.

In addition to the prison term, Ganesh was sentenced to a 3-year term of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $344,916.20. Ganesh will begin serving the prison sentence on November 1, 2018.

On April 4, 2018, Judge Koh sentenced Belcher to a year and a day in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.