Charlotte Doctor Is Found Guilty Of Making False Statements In Connection With $5 Million Durable Medical Equipment Scheme

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A federal jury has returned a guilty verdict against a Charlotte physician for her role in a durable medical equipment (DME) scheme that defrauded federal benefits programs of more than $5 million, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Sudipta Mazumder, 47, of Charlotte, was convicted of six counts of making false statements relating to healthcare matters. U.S District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. presided over the trial.

Robert M. DeWitt, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Tamala E. Miles, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General for the region including North Carolina, join U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.

According to court documents, witness testimony, and evidence presented at trial, during 2019 and 2020, Mazumder was a doctor in Charlotte who worked as an independent contractor for a telemedicine company. During the relevant time frame, Dr. Mazumder signed fraudulent orders for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment for patients insured by the Medicare and TRICARE programs. Trial evidence established that Dr. Mazumder falsely stated in those orders that she was treating the patients for the listed medical conditions and that the braces she ordered were medically necessary.

According to trial evidence and the testimony of witnesses, contrary to the orders she signed, Dr. Mazumder never examined the Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries. In fact, Dr. Mazumder had little or no interaction with the beneficiaries and made no medical determination whether the devices were medically necessary or the beneficiaries needed the DME. Dr. Mazumder received from the telemedicine company unsigned orders for orthopedic braces for the beneficiaries, which she signed and returned to the telemedicine company in exchange for $20 for each purported assessment that she performed.

Dr. Mazumder remains released on bond. The charge of making false statements relating to healthcare matters carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, per count. A sentencing date has not been set.

The investigation was handled by the FBI and HHS-OIG with the assistance of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service of the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Inspector General.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Graham Billings and Katherine Armstrong of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in   Charlotte are prosecuting the case.