Acting United States Attorney April M. Leon announced that Samrat Mukherjee, a 35-year-old resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has pleaded guilty to making false statements related to health care matters. This plea was entered before U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles. Mukherjee's conviction could result in up to five years of imprisonment, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, and three years of supervised release.
Mukherjee admitted during his guilty plea that he was a licensed paramedic employed by Acadian Ambulance Service, Inc., but had never attended or graduated from medical school. Despite this, he falsely claimed to be a licensed medical doctor to colleagues and friends. To support these claims, Mukherjee fabricated a medical degree and residency match letter and participated in celebrations for a medical school graduation he never attended.
While posing as a doctor, Mukherjee gained physician access privileges at several hospitals where he interacted with patients in intensive care units and other hospital areas. He wore insignia identifying him as an "M.D." and "Flight Surgeon" and received badges from local hospitals and Acadian Ambulance indicating his false status as a physician.
From May 2019 through November 2022, Mukherjee called in prescriptions to various pharmacies for himself and others under the guise of being two different doctors authorized to write prescriptions. These actions led pharmacies to submit claims for reimbursement to health care benefit programs such as Medicaid and BCBSLA.
In one instance on October 3, 2022, Mukherjee wrote a prescription for Ondansetron-ODT for a cancer patient without consulting the patient's oncologist or having the necessary authority from the doctor whose signature he forged.
The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney April M. Leon for the Middle District of Louisiana alongside Supervisory Official Matt Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Jason E. Meadows of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).
The investigation was conducted by HHS-OIG with prosecution led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen L. Craig, Trial Attorney Samantha E. Usher, and Assistant Chief Justin M. Woodard.
The Fraud Section spearheads efforts against health care fraud through its Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program which has charged over 5,400 defendants since March 2007 for billing federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion collectively.
