HUNTINGTON BEACH : FBI Arrests Doctor on Fraud Charges
A 49-year-old doctor suspected of defrauding a medical insurance company in Minnesota of more than $40,000 was arrested at his practice by FBI agents, officials said Thursday.
Nagesh Shetty of Huntington Beach was released on his own recognizance Wednesday after appearing before a U.S. magistrate in Santa Ana. He faces 28 counts of mail fraud, FBI spokesman Gary Morley said.
Shetty was arrested Tuesday at Harbor Newport Medical Center in Costa Mesa.
A federal grand jury in Minneapolis returned an indictment on June 7, alleging that Shetty mailed fraudulent insurance claims to Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Minnesota for nonexistent, medically unnecessary or excessive medical treatment.
The indictment also alleges that over a nine-month period beginning in January, 1993, Shetty submitted numerous fraudulent health insurance claims to the company for medical treatments and lab tests that he never performed.
Although Shetty operated as a sole practitioner, the indictment alleges that he submitted claims using two separate provider numbers, one in his name and the other in the name of the Harbor Newport Medical Center.
If convicted, Shetty could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison and fined up to $250,000 on each of the 28 counts.
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