Northville Man Convicted In $2.8 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

NORTHVILLE, MI — A Northville man was convicted on several charges Wednesday after his Livonia health care business fraudulently billed Medicare for nearly $2.8 million in services that were not provided, according to authorities.

Yogesh Pancholi, an Indian national living in Northville, owned and operated Shring Home Care Inc., authorities said. Pancholi was excluded from billing Medicare but he bought the business using the identifying information of others in order to hide his ownership, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Over two months, Pancholi and his co-conspirators billed and were paid almost $2.8 million by Medicare for services not provided, authorities said.

Pancholi transferred the money through shell company bank accounts and into his own accounts in India, according to the department.

He was indicted and, on the eve of his trial, he used a pseudonym to write false and malicious emails to federal agencies alleging a government witness committed crimes and should not be allowed to stay in the U.S., authorities said.

A jury convicted Pancholi, 43, of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud, two counts of substantive health care fraud, two counts of money laundering, two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of witness tampering, according to the department.

He is set to be sentenced Jan. 10, 2024, authorities said. Pancholi faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the conspiracy and witness tampering convictions, a maximum of 10 years for each of the health care fraud and money laundering counts, and a mandatory minimum of two years for aggravated identity theft, according to the department.