Two Indian-origin Americans sentenced in $1 billion healthcare fraud
Two Indian-origin former executives of a Chicago-based health technology start-up company were jailed on accusations of participating in a fraud scheme allegedly aimed at the company’s clients, lenders, and investors.
According to the US Department of Justice, the charges included nearly $1 billion (Rs 7500 crore in Indian currency) in unlawfully obtained funds.
The defendants were identified as Rishi Shah, 38, the co-founder and former CEO of Outcome, and Shradha Agarwal, 38, a co-founder and former president of Outcome.
Also read: Australia New Immigration Policy; Plans to reduce Migration
Brad Purdy, 35, Outcome’s former chief operating officer and chief finance officer, was also implicated.
Rishi Shah sentenced to 7.5 years; Shradha gets 3 years in halfway house
On June 26, Rishi was sentenced to seven years and six months in jail, and on June 30, Shradha was sentenced to three years in a halfway home.
Brad was also convicted on June 30 to two years and three months in prison.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Outcome, which was founded in 2006 and was known as Context Media until January 2017, installed television screens and tablets in doctors’ offices across the United States and then sold advertising space on those devices to clients, the majority of whom were pharmaceutical companies.
Shah, Agarwal, and Purdy sold advertising inventory that the company did not own to Outcome’s clients, only to under-deliver on their campaigns. Despite these under-delivery, the corporation continued to invoice its clients as if it had supplied in full.
Also read: 24-year-old Indian origin woman dies on Melbourne-Delhi flight before take off
An official release in the case suggested Shah, Agarwal, and Purdy lied or caused others to lie to conceal the under-deliveries from clients and make it appear as if the company was delivering advertising content to the number of screens in the clients’ contracts. Purdy and others at Outcome also inflated metrics that purported to show how frequently patients engaged with Outcome’s tablets installed at doctors’ offices.
According to the trial testimony, the scheme aimed at Outcome’s clients began in 2011 and ran until 2017, resulting in at least $45 million in overbilled advertising services.
