Two Wisconsin Doctors Indicted for Medicare Fraud
Dr. Ravi Murali, a 38-year-old Edgerton, Wisconsin, doctor, was indicted by a federal grand jury for his alleged role in a Medicare fraud scheme that would charge Medicare for medical braces that were not needed. According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, “The indictment alleges Murali participated in the fraud while working as a physician for various telemedicine companies.” They charged around $26 million to Medicare. Medicare paid $13 million. According to Madison.com, prosecutors said that “from January 2017 to January 2020, while Murali was working as a physician for various telemedicine companies, he signed orders for medical braces for ankles, knees, backs, shoulders, wrists and hands for Medicare beneficiaries which contained false statements.” Others were allegedly involved in the scheme, but their names have not been included in the indictment.
The indictment says that Dr. Murali allegedly “falsely said he had spoken with the Medicare beneficiary, that he had established a valid prescriber-patient relationship with the beneficiary, and that he conducted various examinations and diagnostic tests of the beneficiary,” according to Madison.com. He would order braces for Medicare beneficiaries whether they needed them or not. Most of the claims for braces he submitted were not true. Medicare paid millions for these braces, but Dr. Murali would make $30 for every telemedicine consult he had.
Dr. Murali had already gotten in trouble in 2015 with the state Medical Examining Board when he admitted that he had been dishonest with them when they were investigating a possible false medical residency diploma. His punishment was to finish 18 hours of classes on medical ethics within nine months. Dr. Murali completed the classes and received his medical license back with unrestricted status in 2016.
Dr. Murali has been indicted on 12 counts of Medicare fraud. He is facing up to 10 years for each of the 12 counts.
According to Madison.com, “The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the FBI.”
Scott Charmoli is a 60-year-old dentist from Grafton, Wisconsin. According to Justice.gov, on December 15, 2020, Charmoli was indicted for “pursuing a health care fraud scheme that involved purposefully damaging patients’ teeth so that he could bill insurance companies for crown procedures.” On or around the start of 2016, Charmoli would tell patients that they needed crowns even though they did not actually need them. He would purposely damage patients’ teeth during the crown procedures and send x-rays and pictures of the purposely damaged teeth in order to receive payment from the insurance companies for doing the crowns. According to Justice.gov, in the indictment, it is stated that Charmoli allegedly “performed over $2,000,000 worth of crown procedures just between January 1, 2018, and August 7, 2019.”
If Charmoli is convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison, supervised release for up to three years, a fine of up to $250,000, and a $100 Special Assessment. “The Justice Department focuses on prosecuting health care fraud not only to protect health care funds but also to protect patients who entrust their well being to providers,” said United States Attorney Krueger.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case, which Assistant United States Attorneys Julie F. Stewart and Michael A. Carter will prosecute” according to Justice.gov.
According to Justice.gov, “An indictment is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” Therefore, neither Dr. Ravi Murali nor Scott Charmolli has yet been formally convicted.
